Wherever It May Take Us
by Forbiddensoul562
Summary: Mello pulled back far enough to meet my eyes, “I have a plan.” He said. Rated for Mello’s mouth and more than likely future lemon. MelloxNear. Second part of Puzzles, please read that first
1. Thunderstorms

A/N: Okay so this is technically the second chapter to this series. I'm kind of worried about it only because, yeah, I have everything planned out as to what I want to happen and I've visualized it and I have the ideas to back up each chapter. But, for this to work I need Mello to be slightly OOC (very much so when I first write it because of my hindrance) in order to make up for Near's inexperience and his emotionless self. That whole thing annoys me to no end, oh well we'll see what happens.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, but I do wish I owned some of the character. I could do some VERY interesting things with them.

Note: Because this whole story is going to be set in Near's point of view (or if everything goes the way I'm planning then it will) this will be the last time that I put a note of it being in his point of view before the chapter. So… if you get confused for some odd reason later on, I already warned you.

Chapter 2: Thunderstorms

Near's P.O.V

It's been three days since that 'last night', the night I shared with Mello. The rest of that night had been rather quiet, every once and a while Mello would kiss me, my forehead, my cheek, my fingers, and every other part of me. He continued telling me every so often that he really did love me, as though he believed that I doubted him.

It wasn't until later on that I did begin to wonder about that.

Mello has never liked me, not in the least bit, what could have possibly pushed him to liking me at all? Not only that, what had thrown him into feeling such a strong emotion for me as love had proved itself to be?

When I thought about those questions I felt myself unconsciously drift away from him, trying to protect myself in case he was lying and just trying to break me down somehow.

But thankfully nothing of the sort happened.

He was right about that 'one night' thing; at dawn I knew it was over. When the morning sun began to flood into the room a great pain had surged inside of me and I felt like I wanted to burst into tears and beg for this to not end.

It's simply amazing what love can do to a person. I never thought I would personally experience it, but I had. In a single night I had completely fallen for the blonde boy I had previously thought hated me.

I wasn't completely positive what it was that made me fall for him so quickly, maybe it was this different, loving, side of him that I'd never seen before. Maybe it was the warm feeling I got when his hands even slightly grazed my skin that made every rational side of me cease to exist.

Though needless to say we finally had to part.

He had kissed me lovingly one last time and stared searchingly into my eyes for a long moment, somehow saying everything I needed to hear at that moment while not saying anything at all. Eventually I somehow managed to tear myself away from him and go back to my own empty, lifeless room.

I lay down on my bed and commenced staring at my closed door, silently wanting and begging for it to slam open and for Mello to be there. I wanted him close to me, I wanted to feel his warm hands caress me and feel his soft lips touch any part of me again.

But it never happened.

I laid there until the afternoon, listening as life continued outside of my room. But still nothing happened, and just like always everybody left me in my solitude.

Finally, by late afternoon I somehow told myself that I needed to try and go on and attempt to feel like I hadn't fallen as hard for him as I had. For the rest of that day I sat in the common room with a few of my robots and tried to keep myself occupied.

It didn't help the new gaping wound in my heart when a certain blonde I had recently fallen for ran by the room every now and then. I would watch him for the brief moment he was there and notice how normal he looked. He didn't appear as broken as I felt beneath my normal stoic mask. I told myself I needed to try and heal as quickly as he seemed to.

And somehow that's how I made it through the next three days.

But now, it's night again and I've been deprived of the ability to fall asleep for one main reason. And surprisingly enough it wasn't because of Mello.

There was a storm raging outside. Every few moments a flash of lightning lit my silent room before it was filled with the loud bang of the thunder, then followed by the violent rain that pelted the window that continued to drench the outside area.

I hate thunderstorms.

It's stupid and childish, I understand. But I have my own personal reasons for disliking the natural phenomenon so much.

Every time the light flashes, illuminating my room for a heartbeats time and the thunder follows close behind my already closed eyes squeeze shut and I will myself to stay exactly where I am in my bed.

My hands clutched the white sheets; I hoped and begged that I didn't open my eyes to see the blood that had at one time been around me. The blood that had flooded me and that I had finally drowned in.

I let my eyes slowly slip open; they rested on the far wall, seeing nothing out of the ordinary on the floor, around the walls, there was nothing but my room.

Another flash of light followed by the bang and again my eyes snapped closed; I could feel my body further tense away from the sound. I knew I would continue to repeat this process until it finally passed. I did it every time we had a storm.

But this night was different; I was no longer on my own. Well… I may not have the option of being alone anyway.

I didn't take any more time to wait and decide. This was a necessity tonight; surely he would understand.

After another crack of thunder I snapped my eyes open and made sure nothing was there then moved out of the confines of my bed and out of my room that, for once, wasn't as safe as it normally felt.

I shuffled down the hall quicker than normal, desperate to be out of this open and vulnerable space. The longer I stayed in the hall the more I felt like I was at risk of my memories catching up to me and reappearing here; one of the places I had thought I was safe for so long.

Once I reached the door I instantly opened it and closed the door behind me, desperate to close out the darkness and fear that had come over me in the hall.

The room was silent and still, almost as still as my own room had been minus the two breathing bodies in the beds.

After another moment of trying to silence my heavy breaths I moved over to the far bed that was closest to the window; to where my own safety lay.

A blast of light filled the room and before I could catch myself I was shaking his arm, "Mello." I whispered, trying desperately not to wake up Matt in the other bed.

He turned away from me without opening his eyes. "Mello!" I said just a little bit louder and pushing on his arm again.

"Go back to bed, Matt, let me sleep!" He said in a heavily drowsy voice.

"Mello." I tried again, hoping maybe he would be conscious enough to register my voice.

"Dammit!" He threw my hand off in a sudden movement, which surprised me and made me step back once. But just as I did he turned back towards me, eyes open this time. His mouth was open to say something more but he stopped suddenly when he saw me.

He sat up with only a brief look of protest on his features, "what are you doing here, Near?" He asked quietly, eyeing Matt once to make sure the gamer was still asleep.

I looked down; I didn't have words to convey how thunderstorms frightened me without sounding half my age. I didn't want to sound so weak in front of him.

His head turned to the side in confusion as he tried to meet my gaze again and I knew he hadn't caught on. "You do remember what I said the other night, right?" He finally asked

Just then another flash lit the room and instantly my hand shot out and grabbed his where it sat on top of the blanket. I tried to tell myself, as I squeezed it in the hopes of getting some kind of comfort, that he would finally understand.

When I looked up again he watched me with just as confused blue eyes.

I mentally gave a heavy sigh, this is why I'm number one and he's number two. He can be so oblivious sometimes.

I then pulled on his hand, stepping back once, "come with me."

He sighed but stood anyway; I could see the fatigue in him. "Where to?" He asked.

I didn't reply; I simply pulled him on to the door and out into the dark hall. But once the door was closed again and the darkness surrounded us somehow it didn't seem quite as dark because he was here.

I felt as though I would be safe now because he was here to chase away all the memories that always seemed to find a way to appear before me.

Again the sudden flash of light followed by the crash of thunder filled the long hallway; I clung to his hand again with my own.

"Near?" He asked. I didn't even have to look back at him, I could hear in his voice that slowly he was beginning to rest on the truth.

I pulled him into my silent room and closed the door afterwards; still I never let go of his hand. It seemed as though if I let go of him for even the slightest of moments he too would slip away from me and I would be alone again.

I wasn't sure if I was strong enough to get myself out of that again.

I finally had to turn back to him and meet the tired, questioning look he held. I couldn't answer him with words. I would rather he figured it out on his own so I didn't have to admit it myself.

I pulled him over to my bed, feeling like a little kid pulling an adult around in order to show them something they'd found, and forced him to sit down on the side. Only then did I let our hands disconnect and it was at that moment that I felt strangely empty.

Another round from the thunder broke the silence between us; before I could stop myself I lunged forward into his arms and crawled up into his lap. My arms wrapped around his neck, my legs on either side of him and my face buried into the crook of his neck.

I felt him tense beneath me for only a moment before he relaxed and his arms wrapped around me.

"One more night?" I asked quietly.

"You're afraid of thunderstorms, Near?" He asked; I just barely nodded into him.

He laughed once as he nuzzled into me, sending a wave of comfort throughout my body. At that moment I was so glad I had went and got him. The crashes outside didn't bother me so much now that I had him in my arms.

I closed my eyes and inhaled his addicting scent, memorizing it all over again.

He finally sighed, "fine, just for you." He said.

I exhaled in relief and softly kissed the skin of his neck before moving up close to his ear, "thank you." I whispered.

"Why are you scared of something like thunderstorms? It's not like anything's going to happen so long as your inside." He asked me, the one question I had hoped that he wouldn't ask me and yet at the same time knew he would.

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. Sure, I may have fallen for Mello but I would never admit why I was afraid of thunderstorms to anyone. It was just a promise I had made to myself years ago.

"You know," he finally said with a sigh, "part of being in love with someone means that you trust them."

Trust him? Trust Mello? But… after all the pain he's put on me physically and all the times he's screamed at me about how much he hated me. How was I supposed to trust that with something like this? Did that mean that I really wasn't in love with him? I hoped not.

"Fine!" He finally said in an annoyed tone, like I had somehow argued my way into a victory over him, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Okay?"

I nodded and kissed his neck again to show my gratitude without having to speak again.

He then pulled me back so I was looking at him then tightened his grip on me so there was hardly any space between us. "You're so fucking addicting, you know that?" He asked; kissing me before I had a chance to respond.

I knew my body temperature sky rocketed just by the feeling of his lips on mine again. I tightened my grip around his neck and pushed further into the kiss; I wanted so much more of him than he was giving me.

I cringed as another bang of thunder shook the whole building, my arms tightened again but this time it was for a different reason.

Mello smiled into the kiss then pulled away with the grin remaining. He moved away from me and slid back on my bed, pulling me with him the whole time until we were finally at the headboard.

He pulled me so I was sitting in his lap again. I felt oddly (yet completely) safe in his hands, those same hands that had been known to hurt so many people. It was almost strange, even now, to feel how gentle they were.

"You really are addicting, Near, as much as I know I should say no to you, I can't." He finally said.

I looked up at him, "are you saying you love me?"

"That's just the reason why I can't."

"Oh." I simply said, purposely letting my voice trail off. Every minute I was with Mello I felt I was getting just a little bit better at showing him that I loved him. This was a teasing thing I've seen girls do to get what they want; if Mello's as predictable as I know he is he'll fall right into it.

"Yes Near! I'm saying that I love you, okay?" He asked, slightly annoyed again.

I gave a small smile as I nuzzled closer to him, he'd fallen right into that one, "that's good."

"Are you going to say it back?" He then asked.

"I love you, Mello." I said easily and meaning every word of it.

At the same time, though, I was trying to fight off the thought of how many more of these, 'last nights' we would honestly have. Logically, I knew we couldn't just give in and let a real relationship grow between us (not with the whole successor predicament hanging over us) but there had to be some way to make this work. There had to be some kind of answer to it.

"That's good." He said, the drowsy tone returning to him.

I looked up and noticed his eyes already closed again; he was incredibly cute when his eyes were closed; even more so when he was asleep. I reached up and gently pecked his lips before resting in his arms again; silently wishing him a goodnight.

Yes, love was becoming an easier emotion for me to show. But in the back of my mind I wondered how much pain it would inevitably bring about.

A/N: Okay, so not exactly the best end to the chapter and certainly not the kind I was searching my sleep-deprived mind for. But whatever, the more I wrote this I was thinking, "wait this is a chapter… so why is this feeling like a one-shot?" Anyway, there'll be a couple more time jumps in this story but I swear that it won't really affect the story that much; it shouldn't feel that jumpy.

Next chapter soon!

Please review!

_-Forbiddensoul562_


	2. The Plan

A/N: Okay after this chapter things will start to get particularly interesting. Well… I think so. But at the same time I'm still debating on how I'm going to set things up. Anyway… seeing as I don't have anything else to say let's get right to the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note. "I'll give you this strawberry if you" don't sue me. Haha wow I definitely need a life… Oh! I don't own that quote either!

Chapter 3: The Plan

It's been a week since the incident with the thunderstorm and just like before life continued as though that night had never happened. No… as though the events of that night had never happened.

Just like before I continued to wish that something would happen and that Mello would seek me out for any kind of reason, just so long as he would be close to me again.

But it never happened.

I tried to keep doing the same things I did before all of this happened. Needless to say academically things stayed the same: I had the top scores on the week's tests while Mello had the second top scores.

From across the room I watched him react in the same way he usually did: stare wide eyed at the board for what felt like forever, as though thinking the scores might somehow change, and then walk away fuming. I was half surprised he didn't hit me in the hall or the common room for getting better than him like he usually did.

Everything on the outside of me was fine as well; I was somehow able to hold my stoic expression throughout the day as I put my puzzles together in the common room or played with my robots.

But on the inside it was a different story completely. It was a story that I had never read before and one that I didn't understand.

The puzzles and my robots no longer held my interest enough to keep my mind busy and I had no other thoughts to rest on comfortably.

So instead, despite how wrong I knew it would be in the end, my thoughts rested on Mello.

It was interesting, whenever I thought about the blonde everything I normally kept hidden from myself seemed to explode all at once. At one moment my mind would be clear and everything would be numb; and then the next a great pain would fill me as I thought about how I would more than likely never be with him.

But that wasn't the worst.

The worst part was when I walked around the building, or sat in the common room and he would walk past me without even giving me a second glance; when our eyes did meet it was never for very long and there was nothing in his blue orbs.

There was no longer that searching look in his eyes that he had always seemed to hold when it was just us. Now when he looked at me he looked just as empty as I normally did.

Everything was going back to normal, it seemed, and that's what I found was hurting me. Even though I had known it wasn't going to last very long I had become attached and now I was being hurt when it was ripped away from me.

So I tried to pick up and move on without anyone noticing. If I allowed myself to dwell on these hopeless feelings they would no doubt somehow be the end of me.

It was mid-afternoon now and I'd finally decided to move from my room down to the common room. It's a sunny day out and that room always lets in the most light. And because of the good weather there's no doubt the others will be outside taking it all in while they can.

So if all went well, as I figured it would, I would get the room to myself for a while; that's what I wanted right now.

But suddenly the sound of a door opening somewhere behind me in the hall caught my ears and I tried not to pay any attention as I listened to the familiar voices fill the once silent hallway.

"Did you hear about those two girls who got in trouble the other day?" Matt's voice asked as he exited from the room. I silently exhaled my breath and tried to put up my barrier to the world again.

"What are you talking about?" My heart constricted in my chest as his voice took the place of Matt's. Why, oh why did he have to unearth any emotions in me? As if bringing out emotions that I didn't understand wasn't enough, it had to be THESE ones.

"You know, those two girls who left by themselves without anyone knowing then came back later that night? Apparently Roger was furious." Matt said as I heard them walking closer to me, it was only a matter of moments before they passed me.

"That's not even the slightest bit interesting, Matt. That's just stupid." Mello stated surely, but something was off about the way he sounded now. Matt sounded closer to me than Mello did, were they not walking side-by-side?

Matt moved past me like I wasn't even there and at that moment I knew the answer to my question was a 'no'.

But I never got the opportunity to even consider looking back to see why Mello had suddenly dropped his pace from Matt's.

The sudden feeling of lips at my neck greeted me and sent a wave of shivers down my spine. My hands clenched on the robots I had been carrying with me. Those damned soft, warm lips of his!

Then, just as quickly as it had come the feeling left me and instead I was shoved against the nearby wall, "you're in my way." He shot back to me as he moved on to catch up to Matt.

I looked up, ignoring the pain in my shoulder to see him give one glance back at me.

Surprisingly enough, instead of the blank look he normally had this time it was just soft enough for me to take notice of. He looked almost as if he was apologizing for the violent motion. That wasn't like Mello. But then again over the last nearly two weeks I've begun to wonder which side of Mello is the real him.

He turned back to Matt, "so, where did they go anyway that pissed Roger off so much?"

Matt shrugged, "not sure, I think they went down into the city though."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

Mello scoffed as they began down the stairs, "like I said, that's just stupid."

When the hallway was left in silence again I collected myself together again and continued on my way in the same direction they had been going.

Yes, all pain aside, this certainly was interesting.

It seems luck was not with me today. When I reached my destination of the common room I found there to be three slightly younger orphans already there.

But of course I didn't say anything about it, I just went to an empty spot on the floor and commenced in playing with my robots, nearly desperate now to keep my mind off of a certain chocolate-addicted blonde.

-

It was late in the afternoon when the rest of the orphans were beginning to come in for the day and little by little the area was beginning to grow even more crowded.

I considered moving back upstairs each time another kid came into the room, but every time I ultimately decided that as long as I got my selected space then it didn't matter how many people were in here.

Just then a single voice quieted everything in the room. "Near."

I silently sighed, for what had to be the fifty-seventh time that day, and continued to look down at what I was doing. I was positioned away from him so I wouldn't have to look at him; as long as I was like that it'd be easier to resist the temptation.

"Near!" Mello's voice was quickened, almost rushed. This intrigued me, but I still didn't look back.

"Mello." I said simply, to let him know I acknowledged that I had heard him.

"Come with me." He said in his normal demanding tone that left no room for argument. Too bad I already knew I had to be stubborn about this.

I turned slightly to look back at him, seeing him standing in the doorway in a nearly forced casual stance. I could see his fist clenching and unclenching in his impatience.

The people around us looked from him back to me, probably wondering what I would say in return. And more than likely wondering how it would end at the same time. As far as they knew when he and I spoke it always resulted in me getting hit.

"Where to?" I asked in my familiar tone that lacked all emotion.

"That doesn't matter, just come with me, damn it!"

I turned back to what I was doing, showing him with my actions that I had no intention of going anywhere else.

I felt quite contradictive. This whole week all I've wanted is at least two minutes alone with him. Any time at all would be enough. But right now, even though I was interested in seeing what the meaning behind this was, I knew I had to stand my ground and resist.

If I gave in to him and it ended up in anything even close to what's been happening before then I'd no doubt be left picking myself back up again for another week after it ends. Honestly, I wasn't sure if it was worth it.

"This is important, Near." His steady tone almost sounded forced. Was he now growing desperate for some reason?

"What is it about?" I turned to him again, my eyes hardened on his. But as I stared into his blue eyes I could feel myself giving in. I needed more will power, but I knew I didn't have it. So what was the purpose of this useless fighting?

To save myself from the pain later, of course.

But that couldn't be the only thing, I've already given in to it and sought him out once before knowing full and well the pain that would result from it.

"You know what it's about! Now come with me; I will drag you if I have to!" I knew he'd hold true to that too if it came down to it.

Well, Mello definitely is a lethal drug. I've never been a masochist, but I suppose there really is a first time for everything. If I was going to fully destroy the hard barrier that locked all my emotions away the least I could do was try and enjoy some of it.

Needless to say I finally stood up, for once leaving all of my belongings where I had placed them, seeing as I didn't think his patience would hold long enough for me to clean it up, and followed him silently from the common room and into the first floor hall.

His expression was blank again as we ascended the stairs both silently and casually. He looked down the hall before allowing me to step into it; I wondered why.

Just then he took my hand and suddenly began running down the hall, pulling me behind with him; my growing confusion and all. It was only then that I noticed it was empty, I assumed that had been what he was checking for in order to see if he could do this.

He pulled me into my room and instantly closed and locked the door once I was in. My eyes went from the doorknob up to him, "Me-."

His lips cut me off by suddenly pressing against mine; his hand that had been dragging me let go and found its way to my face while his other arm wrapped around my waist to secure me to him.

For a brief moment I was too dazed to even realize that he was pushing me backwards one step at a time till we reached my bed and I was pushed down against the mattress.

He crawled over top of me; his tongue moved past my compliant lips and touched my own. A wave of heat shot through my entire body as I once again tasted the sweet chocolate on him.

I sighed into him, my hands came up and grasped onto his tight black shirt to pull him closer to me.

As I've said, Mello definitely is a lethal drug, there's no doubt about that anymore.

It gives me excruciating pain to be away from him, and at the same time it becomes easier for me to say 'no' to him for a while. But with enough effort on his part I would always give in to the temptation knowing there would be significant consequences for these types of actions later on.

But at moments such as these, when he's pressed against me and I can taste the chocolate on him, feel his hands exploring over me, and my hands instinctively clutch onto any part of him I can for fear of drowning in the bliss, I know I'm addicted.

Though the more sensible side of me knew in order to save myself from those painful consequences I only had one more chance. I would have to push him away from me. I knew I had the words to make him stop. And I had the ability to make him stop.

But when my body didn't react to the half-hearted commands I made, I knew… I had the ability to stop him, but I didn't want to.

And he claims I'm the addicting one.

His lips moved to my neck, "you addictive bastard," he said with his lips against my heated flesh and his tongue licking over my skin after he spoke drawing out a small moan from my lips. "I should stay away from you but I can't!"

Ah, so it seems both of us are suffering from the same thing. Very interesting.

"Mello, what's this- ah!" he bit down on the skin at my neck, "what's this… about?" My head was so fogged over I could barely make the words come out.

He didn't answer me.

"Mello."

"Hm?" He said against me. I used my hands that were still firmly gripping onto him to push him back away from me, much to his disliking, "what the hell?" He asked.

"Answer my question."

He gave a wicked grin and leaned down again, resisting my still pushing hands to claim my lips again. He then pulled back far enough to meet my eyes, "I have a plan." He said.

I barely had time to register his words before he kissed me again; I could feel his hands moving to the edges of my shirt and beginning to move under the material. My body wanted me to move more into his touch, but I had to get him to answer my questions now! Before I was drowned in this pleasure!

"I'm not following."

"That's not like you, you're horribly oblivious today."

'I wonder why.' I thought to myself.

He kissed me once more then pulled back, "a plan for something to work between us, of course." I had figured that's what he had meant. "In order for us to be closer, we have to separate."

"That contradictory."

"No it isn't," he said, "didn't you hear what Matt said earlier about those two girls that got in trouble?"

I stayed silent, still not following completely and not wanting to admit it.

"The only way for this to work is for me to leave Wammy's and go into the city."

My grip on him instantly tightened till my knuckles turned white, afraid that if I let my grip over him loosen he'd slip away from me. I had no intention of letting that happen.

When I didn't say anything he continued, though it could have also been because of my intensified grip on him. "Look, we both know that as long as we're here then the fight to become the next L is always going to be hanging over us. And because of this, it's the reason we can't be together."

He sighed and looked away, "and as much as I loathe saying it, we also know that you're the best fit to take L's title. It doesn't matter what the hell I do, you always somehow beat me! So I figure if I leave Wammy's then that competition won't be there. At least… not as much, I guess."

I've never seen Mello admit that he's second best and even remotely sound okay about it. Beating me means everything to him; becoming the next L meant everything to him too. Was he really thinking of throwing all of that away?

"I want to go." I said before I could even think about the words

His blue eyes moved down to me again, "no, you'll stay here."

I knew there were reasons for why I'd have to stay here, he'd pretty much worded his explanation in a way that explained why HE could go but I couldn't. The thought that he was freely willing to leave me made my heart clench in my chest.

When I didn't say anything he leaned down, planting a single soft kiss on my lips that I, in no way, intended to respond to at this moment. He pulled back when he noticed this; his eyes holding mine, "I'll come and see you every night."

I looked away, one of my hands letting go of him in order to begin twirling a lock of my white hair. The sad part was that his plan actually did make sense.

A/N: Okay so the ending was totally not what I wanted it to be. I had wanted the explanation of the plan to be a bit more in-depth. But it was getting kind of long so I decided to hold off until the next chapter. Let me say before hand, yeah, Near may seem a LITTLE bit OOC at the last part of this when he doesn't follow Mello's plan but, I mean, honestly, who COULD think clearly when you have a sexy Mello straddling you?! I know IIII wouldn't be able to! Anyway, let me know whatcha think! Constructive criticism welcome but no flames!

Please Review!  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


	3. Commencing

A/N: Okay so after reading the third chapter again I decided that I can add some of the things that were supposed to be in the explanation of Mello's plan in the last chapter into this one. So yeah, can't say much more without giving anything away! By the way: Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing!! And YOUR WELCOME Famirka

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Though I do kind of wish I did… Mello and Near's relationship with each other would have been a little more interesting. But anyway, I don't so don't sue me please!

Chapter 4: Commencing

It was a week after Mello first introduced his plan to me that he decided it would be safe to carry it out. It gave enough time for people to settle down about the incident with the two girls and possibly even forget it.

As long as it didn't seem that much of a possibility for him to stay within the city for any amount of time no one from Wammy's would try and find him in the hopes of bringing him back.

I had to give it to him he had really thought this out.

But nonetheless I still hated the idea of him having to do this just to let something happen between us. At first I thought that perhaps we could keep the idea of seeing each other every night while he lived here. But I threw that idea away as soon as I thought it; so long as he was here there would be a higher risk of getting caught.

But if Mello wasn't here, and if people accepted his absence, after a while things would settle down. No one would expect him to come back here.

No one had seen him the way I had the last two weeks; no one knew that Mello was no longer as predictable as he normally was. Now, if one predicted something he normally would do, he tended to do the opposite.

Needless to say a week after the introduction to the plan, he was once again in my room. This time with a bag slung over his shoulders and a firm silence set between us, only broken momentarily by the breaking of his chocolate bar when he took a bite from it.

It was hard for me to have to live here with him not even able to look at me for risk of being exposed. But the thought of him not being around at all during the day seemed harder to cope with; I'd probably once again know worry.

In the end I just had to try and trust that Mello knew what he was doing.

His eyes moved up to me, the moonlight that lit up the orbs seemed to melt away the hardness in them; I tried to avoid meeting them as much as I could.

"You're being stupid, Near." He stated, then taking another bite from his chocolate bar.

I stayed silent where I leaned against the wall next to the window, but I allowed my eyes to trail up to him.

"You're acting like this is the last time we're ever going to see each other." It certainly did feel that way to me, but I wasn't sure why. "I'll be back tomorrow night, maybe the night after that if Roger enforces stricter rules or whatever."

We'd planned it out, he'd come every night through the usage of the window in my room. There were vines and uneven brickwork down the wall, enough that he could scale the wall easily.

Because of how our relationship was seen by everyone else, no one would think that if Mello came back he would come back via my window. If anything, they would suspect Matt over me. Or anyone over me for that matter.

"How do you plan on knowing whether or not it's safe to come?" I asked.

He looked away in thought for a long time. I had an idea, but I figured this was his plan so I would let him try and figure something out first.

He looked up once then back to me, "The light. If it's not okay then leave the lights on, otherwise leave them off."

I nodded; glad that he'd spotted my plan.

He then sighed and stepped forward once, "Okay." There was something in the word, like he didn't want to say that he had to go now. Was that the case? Was he as hesitant to go as I was letting him go?

I looked down again, my fingers twirling a lock of white hair.

He stepped forward till he was standing in front of me, his hand took my chin and forced me to look up at him; his searching eyes held mine so I couldn't tear myself away.

He leaned forward and captured my lips once, whispering everything I needed to hear in the single action. My heart ached; I didn't want to let him go for any amount of time.

"I want to go with you." I said, my heart speaking now instead of my mind.

His thumb softly brushed over my cheek, "no, you have to stay here. Think about it, Near, if both of us go missing at the same time then Roger will probably think I finally killed you or something crazy like that. In the least it'll be obvious that we left together." He stopped, knowing that I didn't need to hear the rest. There were so many more obvious reasons why I couldn't leave with Mello but I already knew them all.

I never thought I'd grow so attached to something… to someone, so quickly that I would lose the ability to easily let them go. I couldn't let him go.

He stepped away from me, letting his hand fall from me and then moving over to the window and opening it.

He was just about to begin climbing out of the window to descend carefully down the wall when my hand suddenly shot out and grabbed the rosary that hung around his neck; before he could say anything I pulled him to me and pushed my lips to his again.

I felt as though I no longer had any control over my actions; I had lost them to the desperation of trying to keep him here. Though I knew in the back of my mind that it was a lost cause; when Mello was determined to do something it was meaningless to try and stop him.

I held on tighter to the seemingly fragile necklace and tried to pull him even closer to me. But I was beginning to realize how much of a lost cause this really was so my actions softened considerably.

Instead of trying to convince him into staying I was now trying to tell him how much I'd miss him through my actions rather than words, much like how he had done before.

He seemed to take notice of this and his hands held me close to him for a moment that seemed to pass too quickly; then broke away.

"It's just till tomorrow, idiot, it'll pass quicker than you think." He stated after separating our lips enough for him to speak. His lips grazed over mine as he spoke; I wondered how sure of that statement he really was.

Using my silence to his advantage he unlocked my hand from his necklace then began again out the window.

Just before he was about to descend down the brick wall our eyes locked again, "Love you." He said.

As I gazed at him there, about to leave the only place that's ever even been anywhere close to a home to him, and leave Matt, and me, and all the other people he didn't care as much about behind, I knew he really did.

There was no doubt about it in my mind at this moment. If Mello was lying to me there was no way he'd ever go through with something this drastic.

I silently exhaled my breath and tried to let everything else fall away with it, "love you too." I said just loud enough for him to hear me.

I then turned away from the window, back to my dark room that seemed so empty and unnaturally silent. I tried to tell myself that everything would be okay and that we wouldn't let anything disturb this plan -that it would work.

As I made my way to my bed and lay down, I looked towards the open window and listened as a cool breeze from the outside weather, that seemed to promise the quick arrival of winter, blew into the room.

Yes, this plan had to work. I wouldn't let anything mess it up.

A/N: So that was obviously shorter than the last few chapters have been. Originally I was going to end it the next morning sometime, but I decided to just have that whole day be a chapter. So that'll be the next chapter. I'm not sure yet what'll happen that night between Near and Mello yet though.

I can't read your minds, please tell me your thoughts! Questions you had while reading, comments you have, suggestions, compliments, and so on are all helpful!

Please review!  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


	4. Playing the Part

A/N: So this is the fifth chapter, sorry it took so long but with school and my other stories and everything. Then again there's no excuse for this one seeing as I have so much of it already planned… Anyway, again, sorry this took so long. And thanks to all who review (please continue!) And to my betas: I love you guys, thanks so much!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. It's too much of a masterpiece for my brain to have ever created. So please don't sue me!

Chapter 5: Playing The Part

The next morning I woke up early just like always, and for a brief moment I forgot the events of the previous night. But when my eyes rested on the open window the fresh memories came flooding back to me once again.

Mello was no longer here, I wouldn't get the chance to see him all day.

I turned over and looked at the door, trying to listen to the faint sounds of the people outside who were already beginning their day.

Nothing sounded out of the ordinary yet. I wondered for a moment if anyone other than Matt would realize he was missing.

The thought of what would happen once he realized Mello was no longer here interested me. What would he do? Would he inform Roger? Go after him himself? Or would he simply wait to see what happens? The last option didn't seem like something he would do.

I got up and dressed into my normal attire and then closed the window before heading out into the hallway to observe everyone's actions.

It didn't come as a surprise to find the other orphans acting the way they normally did, the majority still seemed to be half asleep in this early hour while the others were happily making their way to the stairs to beat someone else outside.

I had barely reached the stairs when a voice caught me. "Near." My hand was resting on the railing; when I looked up to see who had called my name, I found Matt walking towards me.

"Good morning, Matt." I said politely.

He stopped a few feet away from me; I was surprised to not find a video game holding his interest, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was one in his pocket.

"Yeah, morning. Have you seen Mello today? I haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon."

My look didn't change at all but if I were the type I would have given him a confused look, "why would you ask me, of all people?"

"A lot of people said they saw Mello call you out of the common room the other day. So I figured maybe you knew something." He stated.

Ah, so he is concerned. If he wasn't he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of asking other people what they had seen. "He did." I confirmed. "But merely to promise that he would beat me on the tests next week. Just like always."

He watched me for a long minute and I stared back; I wasn't sure if he was waiting for me to crack or not. If he was it was in vain, if he hasn't realized by now that it'd take a lot more than that to crack me even in the slightest then he's obviously reached a level of 'oblivious' that's never been seen by mankind.

I may not be as good as Mello can be, but I know how to make a good lie seem believable; especially when a lie such as this one seems natural in itself.

"Okay." He then moved past me down the stairs as though nothing had happened.

My eyes followed him, my fingers coming up to twirl a strand of my hair. 'What do you plan on doing, Matt? You're only third best, and this just shows why. You have failed to see that I am the only one who could possibly have had any impact on Mello. Other than you and I, he doesn't care about anyone else here enough to even listen to anything they might say. Either that or you don't know how to prove that I had some involvement in it other than the one event from a week ago.'

I mentally shook my head and forced myself to continue on my way down the stairs, I sounded like I_ wanted_ Matt to figure this out.

Well, then again with Mello gone and me forcing myself not to worry about him what else is there to let my mind rest on that would really hold my interest?

I knew I couldn't get involved with Matt's concern though, if I tried to pry too much into it then I would come across as suspicious and it would give him reason to try and figure out what really happened yesterday.

No, it would be better if I just continue acting as though I know nothing and just wait to see what would happen next.

-

The day progressed quietly and for a while I figured nothing else would happen, that perhaps it would take a couple of days before Roger and the others grew concerned about where he was.

Why he left was a different matter completely. Anyone who knew Mello at all would know that he was the type who would act over the top about anything. They had no way of knowing whether or not he had just over-reacted about something or not.

Even I didn't know if he would come back within the next few days or not. Perhaps after a day or two in the city he'll somehow come to the conclusion that something in the plan is wrong or won't work and he'll return.

Or perhaps he'll just feel the need to obtain L's title so much that he'll inevitably come back. I could see him doing that.

But once the late afternoon came and the sun outside was beginning to set, casting the common room in a warm, deep orange light, Roger appeared in the entrance of the room.

"Children," he said, getting the attention of everyone in the room. Even my eyes drifted away from my blank puzzle and up to him for a brief moment before looking down again. "Because of Mello's sudden disappearance from Wammy's, which most of you have probably heard about today, and the events from a week ago, I'm reminding you all about the rule to not leave the grounds."

Not leave the grounds? That's it? No… there's something else. There has to be. Most of the kids here wouldn't be stupid enough to dare leave the orphanage and then come back to face the punishments.

"Wow, so that's why it's been so quiet today." One of the kids in the room said to another, who agreed. "Do you know where he went, Roger?"

"No," Roger answered simply.

"You're not going to go find him, are you? Mello's so violent with everyone, it could just be better to leave him for a while." One girl said.

"Maybe he went to the city?" Another boy asked.

"That could be." Roger answered, "but we're not sure and there's no way to really be positive."

"Where do you think Mello went, Near? You're the smartest kid here, surely you have some idea?" Someone asked me just as I placed another puzzle piece into place.

"Well," I began without looking up and continuing to pick up another white piece, "the city is closest to here, so that's an option. But as Roger said there's no way of knowing, and I highly doubt he would go there anyway. Mello knows no boundaries, he's made that obvious, he'll do whatever he wants and I'm sure that means he'll go anywhere as well. If he's mad at someone for something then he'll probably want to get as far away from them as possible. I highly doubt the city would be far enough away for him."

The room was in silence when I stopped. Perhaps my words would have some sort of effect; in the very least they wouldn't bother checking the city for him, or anywhere else for that matter.

Outside of the city that was near Wammy's there was an infinite number of places he could go to, trying to find him when he obviously didn't want to be found would be pointless.

"Yeah," the same orphan said, "good point."

"Well be that as it may, for right now just stay close to the orphanage for the next few days." With that Roger left from the common room and into the dining room, probably to continue delivering the message around.

I turned and looked out the window of the room, observing the sky that was soon darkening and the trees that blew in a strong gust of wind. I didn't have to go outside to know it was going to be cold, of all times of the year for this to happen it had to be at the beginning of winter.

I wondered how long Mello would wait tonight before deciding to come back. Hopefully it was well after nightfall in order to ensure that no one saw him walking back to building.

I had done my part to make sure no one was suspicious and to pressure them into not looking for him, but now he had to make sure he wasn't caught trying to come back.

A/N: Okay so this was almost the same size as the last chapter, I'm trying to now reduce the size of the chapters so that some may be longer than others because of details that need to go in, but in the end there will be more chapters. I don't know why I'm so paranoid about chapter size. Anyway, yeah check out the next chapter to see whether or not Mello gets caught coming back to see Near. And as always…

Please review!  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


	5. The First Night

A/N: Okay so now I'm really getting into this story, as in writing the story in my head almost all day (and all night seeing as I don't sleep during the summer). Maybe I'll actually finish a story that I started for this category! I'd be so happy if that happened, I'd be in my glory for a while.

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own Death Note. It's as simple as that, though that doesn't make it any less depressing!

Chapter 6: The First Night

Later that night the minutes felt more like hours to me as I sat on my bed with the lights off and the window open again and waited.

I knew just waiting there wouldn't make him come any quicker, but I couldn't think of anything else that would distract me enough.

So I was left to just wait.

I wondered to myself what had happened over the course of the day: what had he done? Where had he stayed? I wanted to know almost as badly as I just wanted to see him again.

I had made sure to lock my door before proceeding to wait here. It was well into the night, past midnight last time I checked, but I didn't want to risk someone simply bursting in for whatever reason.

Not that I could see anyone doing that, but the one time you overlook it is the one time it happens.

Suddenly I heard the sound of the vines outside the window being pulled and I stood up, and just as I did he appeared there.

"Hey," he said, pulling himself fully into my room then closing the window.

I couldn't contain myself anymore, the door was locked and the window was closed, there was no one else here. I went forward and instantly wrapped my arms around him, but nearly jumping in surprise, "you're cold." I said looking up to him.

"So are you." He said.

We stared at each other for a long minute, I didn't know what to say to him or what to do. Was there anything right to say at a moment like this? If there was he'd probably find it before I did.

"Well?" He asked, a look of impatience crossing his features.

What was it he was waiting for? Oh! I leaned up and kissed him once, then rested my head against his chest; the calming sound of his heartbeat greeted my ear. "I missed you." I said in a voice close to a whisper.

His cold arms wrapped around me and I resisted the urge to shiver knowing it would more than likely cause him to pull back. "I know." He said.

After a moment I pulled back from him completely and walked further into the room, inviting him in without words.

I moved around my bed to my bedside table as he sat down on the mattress and disposed of his jacket on the floor, leaving on his normal leather jeans and black sleeveless-shirt. Not exactly pre-winter-wear, but he'd wear what he wanted no matter what the weather dictated to him.

"How were things today?" He asked.

"Almost the same."

"Almost?" He gave me a puzzled look as I shifted through the neatly stacked objects in each drawer.

"Matt was a little concerned, but that's to be expected." I stated, "and Roger made it clear that no one is to leave the grounds."

I looked up in time to see Mello's blue eyes look away in a glare, "that bastard didn't even consider looking for me?"

"I convinced him not to." His eyes moved back to me, confused again. "They were discussing where you could be and I simply stated that the likelihood that you were in the city was very low when you could go anywhere else and that it'd be pointless to look when they didn't know where to begin."

He sighed, "true."

I emerged finally from the drawer, claiming what I wanted, then moved up to him. I crawled into his lap much like I had done the night of the thunderstorm and held the chocolate bar I had between us.

His eyes grew in size and instantly his hands claimed it from mine, "where did you get this?" He asked as he ripped the paper away.

"I've had a couple for a while now, but I don't eat many sweets." I stated as he took a bite out of it.

"I ate the last of mine this afternoon."

His comment reminded me of the questions I had had before he arrived, "what did you do today?" I asked.

He looked back at me, "what do you mean? I didn't do anything. I found a spot to stay at till I can steal enough to go someplace better. I figured I'd start tomorrow."

"You're going to steal?" It was something he would do, but it surprised me for some reason.

"Of course, how else do you expect me to get by? There's not much a fifteen-year-old can do in terms of work these days." He stated, taking a bite out of the chocolate bar. (1)

I understood what he was saying, but at the moment I wished there was something more I could do to keep him from having to do that.

After finishing another bite out of the candy bar his eyes returned to mine as he set it down beside us and wrapped his arms around my waist securely, "tell me more about today."

"There was nothing else, it'll take a few days before anything more starts happening." I stated moving my arms up around his neck. "And by then there'll probably only be rumors going around to keep people interested." I continued.

"And Roger? I can't see him really doing anything so long as he doesn't know where I am."

I nodded, "he probably won't."

We were left in silence for a long few minutes, one where I figured I should probably say something but again all the sensible things I could say in this situation seemed to have abandoned me.

Just then I felt Mello's grip over me tighten; he pulled me closer to him as his lips moved to my ear, "would you believe me if I said I missed seeing you today?"

Well… it depends on what side of him we're talking about. The Mello I've known for years, who's more violent and who hates me: no, I wouldn't believe him. The one that loved me: yes, I would.

"No." I finally said; a plan forming in mind.

He tensed beneath me, but didn't pull back, "yeah, sounds like you. What would convince you?" He asked.

"Show me." I then said, tightening my own grip over him. I think this is what they call flirting, and we would see how powerful of a tool it really was.

Mello hesitated for only a second before pulling back to face me and pressed our lips together.

Success, I got what I wanted.

I pulled him close to me, till I was positive there was absolutely no space between us anymore, and let my fingers lose their way in his soft, blonde locks.

He pressed harder against me, seeming more forceful than he'd been before. But then his tongue was there, licking across my bottom lip instead of forcing entry as I had figured he would do.

I instantly complied, knowing I'd never be able to resist him even if I wanted to, and almost immediately I felt his tongue melt with mine, the sweet candy lingering on him.

I felt his hands slip under my shirt; the feeling of his cool hands on my skin sent a shiver down my spine yet a wave of heat through my middle that resonated through the rest of my insides at the same time. I unconsciously moved more into the touch, craving so much more.

But then suddenly the sensible side of me came back.

"Mello." I managed as I pulled back from him. But he instantly met me again, silencing me with his soft, addicting, lips. Once again I pulled back, "no." He had to understand what I was saying no to.

I felt him sigh but his lips only proceeded to move from mine to begin a trail down my neck as his hands trailed up my sides, "give me one good reason why not." He murmured against me.

"Too risky." I managed to say.

"You're too cautious."

"You're too impulsive."

"Haven't you ever heard that wonderful saying about throwing caution out the window?" His teeth grazed against my skin; I bit back a soft moan of pleasure at the mix of his mouth ravaging my neck while his hands trailed the skin over my spine.

"Yes."

"Then take the advice."

"Can't."

"Why?" He was growing more frustrated, but even so he moved back up to my lips, probably trying to keep me from speaking in order to make any kind of move that would push me over to his side.

Well, if he's going to use those actions to his advantage then I'd use words to mine. "I've seen you make too many mistakes by doing that."

He suddenly bit my lip, hard enough to tell me he was aiming to draw blood before drawing back. "Low blow, Near." He said nearly through gritted teeth but never moving his hands from under my shirt.

I couldn't say much though, I hadn't moved mine from the light grasp I had in his hair. "Too risky." I repeated, I didn't want to further frustrate him by mentioning that what I had said was true.

Even now, it seems he still hates the fact that I'm better than him. Apparently he's just somehow gotten very good at hiding it. Either that or so long as I didn't mention it he wouldn't act on that hatred; it was good to know.

Finally he sighed and leaned forward; placing soft chaste kisses on my neck. I guess he's too addicted to stay frustrated at me for very long.

I exhaled but moved to give him more room, I loved the way those lips felt against me; there was no denying it. "Mello…"

"How?" He asked against me.

"Noise." I merely said. The new heated feeling that filled me wasn't like the one before; this one was centered more in my cheeks than anything. Embarrassment, perhaps?

I felt him smile, "just don't make a sound."

My eyes closed as he continued his actions, how was I not supposed to make a sound? Sure it was easy enough during the day to not say anything, but at a moment like now I could barely suppress anything. It seemed almost impossible to do; especially with the picture of beauty sitting under me.

"I don't… no, Mello." I whispered, changing my words at the last moment.

When I felt his smile against me grow and his teeth once again bite at the flesh at the base of my neck I knew he understood what I was going to say first. I must admit, he's good at reading into what I say.

"Just relax; let me show you." His soft words were so appealing and urged me to give in to him. I wanted to, I wanted to give everything over to him and just see what would happen.

But I couldn't, not right here and certainly not tonight.

"Mello." I said again.

He let out another frustrated sigh and forcefully licked over the new mark I was almost positive I had on my neck now. Hopefully he had enough sense to put it where my shirt would cover it.

He then pulled back, narrowed eyes meeting mine, "fine, have it your way." His hands moved from under my shirt back to holding me around the waist.

I kissed him once, "thank you." I said softly, resting my head in the crook of his neck, taking in his unique scent. Oddly enough he didn't have a sweet aroma around him as I'd always expected, it was darker in a way; almost a deep spice that made me desire him so much more.

"Whatever." He grumbled.

"I love you."

"Yeah, whatever."

I moved to look at him blankly, was he trying to guilt me into it? "Mello."

"What?" He said frustrated, "damn, go to sleep it's late you know. Besides, you're too much of temptation when you're awake, if you keep it up I'll just take you anyway." That sounded more like the Mello I'd known.

My eyes closed, "So I take it you won't be here when I wake up?" I could feel myself drifting into unconsciousness more and more with every second my eyes remained closed.

"Of course not, I'll be gone before dawn." He said. He then somehow moved up to the headboard while still bringing me with him and brought the comforter up over both of us.

I couldn't find any words to say, I wanted to stay awake in order to make it seem like he was staying longer than he really was, but I couldn't find the will power to open my eyes again.

I felt his fingers move up to my hair, running them through it and playing with each lock just as I normally did. The action didn't help my fight to stay awake.

But finally I sighed, knowing it was a lost cause, and settled further down into him so I could listen to his heartbeat better.

I could have sworn that just before I fell into the black of a dreamless (yet somehow peaceful) sleep I felt him kiss the top of my head and say, "I love you too."

A/N: So I definitely loved where that ended! It sounded more like where you'd end a one-shot rather than a chapter. As I was writing this I began to wonder why I was even adding this chapter in, other than informing Mello what had happened over the day there wasn't much else of a reason. I don't know, I really wanted it in.

ALSO: Contrary to what this chapter kind of showed, I am hoping to have at least one lemon in this story. Now, I've never written a lemon for any anime so it'll be my first, which is why I'm hesitant. But if I can get these two in the right circumstances then there should be a lemon. (It's still being debated though!)

1: Okay yes, I do realize that Mello being fifteen and the weather conditions I set don't quite match the main story events (seeing as L dies in November). But considering what I need to happen in this story there's no way I can keep that event AND have all my ideas work. I don't want to make them any younger because right now it already feels weird having them the ages that they are and so… involved. So for the sake of this story, let's just pretend that L dies like maybe the following year. Or better yet! Never!

Please review  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


	6. Confrontation

A/N: Alright I'm sorry the updates for this story have been so slow even though i have a lot of this already typed out. There's really no excuse other than the fact that I don't know how all of you are going to react to these chapters. I made the ideas for them before I REALLY understood the characters so, looking back on it, it may seem kind of OOC, and people who know me know I _hate_ doing characters OOC when I know I could do them better. So... I'm hope everyone likes this, and I'm hoping to update again sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, any of the characters, or anything like that so please don't sue me.

Chapter 7: Confrontation

It was just as I had figured; it had taken a few days for Mello's absence to stir up any kind of reaction from the other orphans. Then after a week and a half of nothing more happening with him they let it drop for more current drama.

As far as they knew his absence meant he wasn't coming back anytime soon; I was more than willing to let them indulge in that thought.

As for us, things continued much the same way, every night he played the part of the risk-taker who always tried to persuade me over to a more 'interesting' night and I played the part of the cautious-thinker who seemed to even him out perfectly.

It made sense, so long as no boundaries were pushed within the walls of Wammy's there would be no risk of him being caught, which meant there was no risk of being separated from him even more than we already were.

But things seemed different tonight.

I wasn't sure why, maybe it was in the way the other orphans moved hesitantly around me… well, even more so than normal, or the storm that raged on for most of the day, shrouding the orphanage in an unnatural darkness. Or perhaps it was something as simple as me, for some reason, not being able to make a dice tower higher than ten dice tall.

Whatever it was, something didn't feel right and it troubled me that I couldn't figure out what it was.

The fact that night had drawn upon the building even quicker than usual didn't do anything to settle my nerves that were even more cautious tonight than before.

The night meant everyone would be asleep except me and Mello, which meant that perhaps whatever was causing today to not feel right would finally surface at that moment.

I felt a deep sense of foreboding just thinking about what that could be.

I tried to push those thoughts away from me as I made my way down the quiet hall towards me room. Everyone was already in their rooms for the night though the sounds of them talking and engaging in other various activities could still be heard.

As I reached my door I silently let out a breath, hoping that maybe I was wrong for once and all of these paranoid thoughts were nothing at all.

But as I opened the door I found I was wrong.

The room was dark and cold, unsurprisingly, as I always left the lights off and had fallen into the habit of leaving my window open as well.

But still, despite all of that I could clearly see Matt sitting on my bed, illuminated by the light the game he was playing.

His head lifted when he noticed me standing in the doorway. I simply closed the door and flicked on the lights with enough fluidity to make it seem routine so he wouldn't notice anything in my actions.

"Good evening, Matt." I said, watching as he saved his game before turning it off.

"Yeah." He muttered, sounding like he was debating something with himself.

"Might I ask what you're doing in my room so late?" I asked, my eyes memorizing the way he stood and moved stiffly as he placed the game into his coat pocket.

"I figured it out." He said in a quieter voice. He wasn't sure about whatever conclusion he had come to; I could hear it in his tone.

I didn't feel any surprise or even the need to put up an even stronger barrier to him, I knew there was no way he could know anything more than what I had told him. I'd made sure to keep it that way.

"Figured what out, Matt?" I asked.

"Figured out that you are the only one who knows anything about why Mello left."

Of course, he's just as relentless as I figured he would be. His best friend, who was completely fine one day just up and left the next without the slightest of words, that would be enough to make any real friend desire an explanation; Matt was no exception to this.

"I already told you what happened that day, there's nothing more I can offer you." I stated.

He was still looking away and I could see his diverted eyes through the lens of his goggles. "I don't believe you." He stated, "Mello's not like that."

"Mello's impulsive." I stated.

"Not to this extent, he would have come back by now. What did you say to him to make him do this, Near?" He asked me, his eyes darting back and locking with mine.

"Nothing." I stated, which was true, this plan had been made on his own.

"I don't believe that for a minute." His tone was beginning to sound more confident in this conclusion; somehow he had convinced himself into believing that I knew something he didn't within the last few moments.

I stayed silent.

"Listen, Near," he stepped forward and I resisted the urge to step back, this was still my room after all and I needed to maintain even the slightest bit of dominance there, "Mello is my best friend, and I want to at least know why he left, somewhere in that reclusive being you have to understand that, just tell me what you know."

I began twirling a strand of white hair between my fingers. He had no real evidence to say whether I really knew anything or not other than the fact that I was with Mello a week before he'd left. His disappearance was the only out-of-place thing that had happened. He was going off of a feeling instead of strong evidence.

Considering how unnatural it was, it did make some sense; even I would suspect myself if I were in Matt's position.

"I don't know anything."

I watched as his hands clenched tightly for a moment before relaxing again, "what did you say happened between you two?"

Was he interrogating me to try and find flaws in my story? He's interrogating the person first in line to succeed L when he dies; surely he has to realize that I'd see what he was doing.

"He promised that he was going to beat me on the next tests. If you're looking for details then there were a couple of threats in-between, but that was the overall message in his long rant."

Matt was quiet and I saw his fist clenching again; I couldn't help but wonder how much more of this mystery he could take before finally bursting… what would happen then?

I shouldn't have wondered.

I barely had any time to realize what was going on or assess the situation in the slightest. He crossed the few feet that was between us and grabbed the front of my shirt, then whipped me around to slam me against the closest wall; I felt my right side collide painfully into the side of the bedside table just before my back made contact with the wall.

"You know something, Near." He said loud enough for me to hear, but not enough to draw any attention from anyone that could possibly be outside the room. At least he was being cautious. "You have to know something!"

I tried not to let the pain in my side show on any of my features and tried not to respond in the slightest. His grip was firm over my shirt and held me tightly so there would be no way for me to get out even if I tried.

But it was the look in his eyes that made me stop.

They looked almost remorseful behind a forced hard wall that tried desperately to show nothing at all. It looked as though he was trying to apologize for these drastic actions and tell me that he really didn't want to do this but it was seemingly his only way.

"I don't." I said.

His fist collided with my stomach; I instinctively doubled over, only a brief look of pain passed before I hid it all again. His hits didn't hurt as much as Mello's used to, that much was for sure.

"Don't lie to me!"

I stayed silent this time, by not telling him I was basically lying.

Again he hit me, my eyes closed as I tried to hold back everything. He may not hit quite as hard as Mello did but that didn't make it any less painful.

"Tell me." He tried.

I was silent as I met his eyes once more.

His eyes hardened, throwing away all of the remorse he had held before.

He hit me again before letting go of his tight hold over me and letting me slide down to the wood floor. I instantly pulled myself into my normal sitting position and began watching him intently as I tried to convince myself the pain wasn't there so it wouldn't show.

He stepped away from me and sighed heavily, his goggled eyes watched me watch him; I could barely see anything in his orbs. I observed him with nothing in my grey eyes, knowing that if I even let a single thing pass my stoic expression it would only be a silent promise to him that he would never figure this out.

I didn't need to provoke him into doing anything else drastic at the moment.

With a sudden sigh he slipped his hands into his pockets and stood straight as though nothing had just happened. "Night." He said as he left out the door; my eyes continuing to follow him.

His words intrigued me, there was no, 'don't tell anyone about this', or 'see you tomorrow' or anything of the sort. It left me with no idea of whether or not I should predict these same events for tomorrow or not.

Did he mean to leave me in that sort of suspense?

I hoped not, as I stood up and went to the door to lock it I could feel the pain in my middle as well as on my side. There would be bruises there by tomorrow, no doubt. I really didn't like the idea of having to deal with Matt every night.

I didn't bother to turn off the lights after locking my door and beginning to head to my bed.

I lay down and looked at the open window, feeling a cold wind blow into the room. I ached to feel Mello close to me, to be able to fall asleep in his arms as I had grown accustomed to doing over the past week.

But I knew that with what had just happened I had no way of knowing whether Matt had any intention of coming back tonight or not. I wasn't willing to risk that. This was just safer.

I would deal with everything tomorrow; if things went as I predicted it would not be a quiet night.

A/N: So that was alright, it turned out a little better than I thought it would I guess. I was kind of hesitant about this part because I focus a lot on Mello and Near's characters and not Matt since I dislike him a lot. So having such a dramatic action on his part, I wasn't sure if I was stepping out of his character with that or not. Though, I mean, really, when you think about it in the scheme of things, despite how much I hate Matt and think he doesn't have a real personality, I can see how he would come to this conclusion. Hopefully i made things clear enough that you see how too.

So let me know how I did! All thoughts are welcomed.

Please review!  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


	7. Concern

A/N: So i'll tell you guys straight off... i really dislike this chapter. I despise the way i did this and yet i don't have the will to go back and re-write it. The next chapter is the last one i had pre-written and i dislike it too. Maybe i'm just being too hard on myself though... I don't know... I'll see what all of you think. I'm sorry for any slight OOCness that may be in this, as well. My understanding of the characters when i wrote this fails in comparison to how i understand them now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, and as my note above kind of suggested I am NOT making any money off of any of these stories.

Chapter 7: Concern

The next day went by quicker than I could have ever believed that it would; though overall it was no different from any other day.

After daily classes each of the orphans went to do their own thing. I resided in the common room just like I did most days; Matt didn't say a word to me the entire day and even when we passed each other in the hall it was as though the other person wasn't even there.

Just as I had predicted last night, I found visible bruises around my middle and on my side the next morning and to make matters worse they were sensitive to the touch.

I contemplated keeping Mello away for another couple of days in order to allow the bruising to go down and to make sure Matt didn't try anything again.

But I ultimately decided against it.

All of my rational thoughts told me keeping him away and coming up with a good excuse would be the best thing to do. But my heart pointed me in the opposite direction, telling me that I needed to see him and that I would cave eventually so there was no point fighting it.

So just as I normally did, after locking the door and pushing the window open I waited quietly; my hands fidgeted with the white sleeves of my top from a sudden wave of nervousness that had laid dormant in me all day.

Mello was always physical, in some way or form, every night; I didn't mind that at all (so long as he stayed within the boundaries my cautious nature unconsciously set up) and he knew that. So if I pushed him away during something so simple for touching on the new marks I had, he'd catch on quick.

Part of me wondered what he would do. Him being as impulsive as he is didn't help me to draw any safe conclusions.

Hopefully, though, he wouldn't find out and then I wouldn't have to deal with that; the last thing we needed was for him to do something to Matt and thus destroy our plan just because of his protective nature.

The sudden sound of the vines on the wall outside my window moving along with the scraping of shoes against bricks suddenly drew me out of my thoughts. The wave of nervousness increased significantly; but I tried to keep it from showing on my features.

Just then Mello, reaching my window and beginning to crawl in came to my sight, "Hey," he greeted nonchalantly as he pulled himself in.

I stood up as he closed the window and tried to let everything fall away. Now that he was here I'd have to somehow convince myself that I could keep my secret from him.

I walked closer to him and wrapped my arms around his cold form and kissed him before either of us could dare say anything. There was a timid touch to my actions, even I could feel it, and the flame of nervousness was suddenly re-kindled.

He pulled away after a moment; his features contorted into confusion. But after a moment they softened more and his hand came up to trail just under my eye then down my jaw line with his thumb, "You look tired."

"Didn't sleep." I admitted truthfully. The pain in my middle and side mixed with the emptiness of not having him near me for so long left me unable to sleep for longer than a few restless moments in the nights since his last visit.

"Well why not?"

"Couldn't."

He sighed, growing frustrated, "You're being vague again."

"The light and noise kept me up." I figured out earlier today that it'd be better to answer all the questions he had earlier in the evening in order to satisfy his curiosity and make him less prone to attempting to figure things out on his own, later on. If I can quench his urge to know early then he'll forget about it.

I couldn't help but feel guilty for having to lie about this. But what can I say, it's human natures to be able to lie in order to get to the conclusion we need.

His blue eyes looked down, confused, at me, "Yeah, what was going on last night?" His eyes then commenced in searching mine.

To anyone else, that look has been known to be unnerving, and if he held it long enough, and with enough force behind it, he could draw anything out of a person.

But I was the exception to this. It never affected me, like everyone else, and I was able to look past is and find the beauty, the concern, in the look. If I was the type to do so, I would have smiled, for I loved that searching gaze on him.

"The staff were doing random checks to make sure the others were doing as told and weren't attempting to leave or causing any type of mischief."

He scoffed, "And they actually thought that, of all people, you needed to be checked on as well?" He pushed a lock of white hair away from my eyes and a look of disbelief crossed his face.

"No, they only entered twice that night. It was strictly a precautionary measure."

The grip Mello had over my waist tightened, causing his arm to slightly push against the bruise on my side, and as a result of the unexpected jolt of pain I fidgeted in his arms when he kissed me.

I felt the confusion in his actions and knew I needed to mask it and distract him.

Just as he pulled away my arms rose and wove around his neck while I rested my head against him.

He leaned in to me, his lips touching all he could reach of my neck, until he finally reached under my ear, "I love you." He said, the three words that only I would ever hear. At least, I tried to let myself believe I'd be the only one to ever hear them.

They filled me completely and brought up the warm feeling of acceptance that Mello had me addicted to.

I never thought I'd ever hear Mello say those words; especially not to me. I always assumed he'd have too much pride to admit something like that, even if he did feel that way.

Every time I heard those words I felt as though I was seeing that completely opposite side of Mello that no one knew existed.

"I love you too." I murmured against him.

Mello was still for another minute, allowing me to further relax into him and to get a sense of safety that I otherwise never felt.

Then, before I could protest, he bent down and swept me up into his arms, bridal style. "Mello!" I said in surprise as I clung to him tighter than before, afraid that he'd drop me.

He smirked, "Relax," he told me as he crossed the room and laid me on the bed. I watched carefully as he climbed overtop of me before laying down on my left side.

I turned so we were facing each other; his hand took mine and brought it up so that his lips touched my knuckles. His soft lips moved, caressing each of the joints before moving down to my fingertips.

I watched him with hidden curiosity, such soft and loving actions… the type of actions that are most unlike him. And yet they never fail to make my heart race and make my body heat up while I ache to lay my hands on him and make sure this isn't just a dream.

"Near," his eyes opened on me, "you should sleep."

"No."

His look hardened, "Why not?" He demanded.

"If I let myself sleep now then it means you'll be gone sooner."

He watched me carefully, "And you don't want that." He assumed correctly, to which I couldn't protest.

He let go of my hand and wrapped his own around my waist to pull me closer. I tried not to move or let my stoic expression fall as his arm continued to rest right on the bruise that lay there.

"Fine." Mello finally said, kissing me once before falling quiet.

I tried to stay as I was, and even tried to think of something to say to get him to talk in order to focus on his words instead of the pain. But I knew that, even then, it'd be a losing battle.

So I finally gave in and turned on my stomach and let his arm rest over my middle. It was easier to ignore this new pain because of the light action that was putting limited weight over the area. I resisted the urge to see whether he had noticed anything or not.

After another long minute of silence I felt his eyes move up to watch me for a moment before moving in even closer to me. His lips found my neck and he didn't hesitate to attack all the skin there, biting and licking areas just hard enough to earn a sharp intake of breath from me but not enough to promise leaving a mark tomorrow.

My eyes closed and I moved my head to give him more of an area to work with; which he instantly took advantage of. "Mello." I said as he pulled me closer to him.

His lips moved up to under my ear where he left a final kiss before speaking, "Don't you even dare think about stopping me tonight."

Before I could attempt to say anything he moved up until he was straddling me and his lips found mine. It wasn't as forceful or demanding as I had thought it'd be.

The few innocent kisses he placed on my lips left me craving so much more of him; I'm sure that's what he was aiming for. The stable and cautious grip I had over myself was quickly melting though my fingertips and was replaced with the feeling of his soft, cool skin against mine.

No. I had to keep a hold of myself in order to stay in control of the situation.

As my lips parted for him and his tongue melded with my own, I tried to keep a firm hold over myself so I wouldn't fall too far into the bliss. I became aware to the feel of Mello's hands traveling around me, moving from where he'd been gently holding around my sides to travel up my chest and then back down.

His fingers then began working on the buttons at the bottom of my shirt; judging by the rapid speed he was working at it was easy to see he was trying to get it off quickly before I could stop him.

But it was too late; I'd noticed his plan and now had to stop it.

I broke our connected lips and turned my head so he couldn't kiss me as easily. "Mello!"

He only pulled back slightly, "What? Fuck cautiousness!" I could hear the frustration dripping from every word.

"No." I said.

He leaned down closer to me; his blue eyes watched to see even the slightest change of expression… or, rather, for any expression at all. "Why not?" He asked, "nothing will happen, just trust me for once." He kissed my throat once and I remained silent.

He certainly was determined, and he left me with nothing to say against him. I knew part of the reason was because I didn't want to protest. I wanted to let him continue so I could feel his lips on any part of me and feel his hands travel anywhere they so desired.

But for the sake of keeping the events of the previous night away from him I couldn't give in to those physical desires.

Then came the issue of not having anything to say to make him stop.

"At least let me have this," his fingers undid another one of the buttons, leaving my shirt only halfway closed now, but his eyes stayed trained on me. "If you do, I guarantee I can get you to go the rest of the way."

His hands slid up under the open material and I instinctively jumped at the sudden pain from the bruises he didn't know he was pushing on.

I turned enough to watch as his expression turn confused once again, "Why the hell are you so jumpy tonight?" Mello asked.

I tried to move away from his stilled hands but he had me firmly pinned to the mattress. "Your hands are cold." I said quietly.

He could see past my lie; I could read it in his features.

Mello sat back on his knees after withdrawing his hands and I followed, sliding most of the way out from under him while my hands tried to refasten my shirt's buttons.

But then, suddenly, he moved over me again and pushed my hands away forcefully; it took a half second of watching him undo it again and move on to the next one for me to react.

"Mello." I tied to stop him but I didn't slow him in the slightest.

When finally every button was undone he moved the material back and at that moment I knew I had failed for once.

A/N: Okay so yes I know that this seems like a weird place to end the chapter, when it's just about to get good but if I keep going and do everything in this chapter that I want to it'll end up being over ten pages and I don't want that. Anyway, as I was writing this I couldn't help but feel that this seemed a little… I don't know… dramatic? And I mean that in a bad way. I'm still not feeling too good about it. So, comments please!

I can't read your minds! Let me know what you though! Constructive criticism is okay but flames are not!

Please review  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


	8. The New Plan

A/N: I am so sorry that this chapter has been delayed almost two months! See, I've posted so much stuff, and, really, I haven't done more than edit anything on this currently, because I had it all already typed out. But I went back and looked at it all and I realized, "wow… they're very ooc." Which I HATE. So… my will to do this story has been shot. I'll TRY to continue this… but it's really taken backseat to my other stories, and I'm really considering putting this on hiatus until further notice. I don't know yet.

Disclaimer: I do not, nor do I think I will ever, own Death Note or it's amazing characters.

Chapter 8: A New Plan

I couldn't tear my eyes away from Mello as his blue orbs fell to my middle and onto the discolored area. It was hard to determine the emotion lacing his features, though the most I could see from him was surprise.

His fingers gingerly traced the area so it wouldn't hurt; it looked as though he was now examining it and drawing conclusions that I couldn't read. "What the hell did you do?"

"Fell." I said instantly before I could think it through.

His eyes moved to the other bruise on my side and his fingers soon followed with the same dexterity. "You're not a klutz, Near."

I shrugged lightly.

"Besides, they don't look like bruises you'd get from falling." Of course Mello, being as impulsive as he was, would know the difference between accidental wounds and inflicted. My mistake was putting that knowledge past him.

His look moved up and his gaze burned in to mine, "So," he said slowly and carefully while his eyes kept me from looking away, "Tell me who hit you."

I drew as far from him as the headboard I was leaning against would allow, and tore my gaze away from him while my fingers rose to a strand of my white hair, "No one."

His fingers caught my chin and forced me to face him; those beautiful eyes had an almost hypnotic way of getting me to finally look right at him. "You're not _that_ good of a liar." He stated.

I mentally sighed knowing I could go nowhere else. The best thing for me to do was to give up my fight and just work with whatever his reaction was. "I figured based on what you already knew has been happening here you'd have some idea."

Mello continued to watch me, though I could see in his still surprised features that he was slowly resting on the truth. I watched him, carefully trying to read where he was on figuring it out.

"I'll kill him." He said, slowly and carefully.

I paused while still in his grasp and pinned under him. I desperately hoped he thought everything out before he acted… though the sensible side of me knew that he wouldn't.

"I'll kill him!" He said again, louder now and with much more force; and at that moment I had absolutely no doubt that if he got to the redhead gamer, he would do just that.

In a single instant he shot up from where he had been above me and headed to the locked door.

"No!"

He stopped instantly, but I watched his fists clench at his sides.

This was my chance. I had him paused, I needed to do everything I could at this moment to make sure that he didn't leave this room, let alone actually reached his best friend.

I got up from the bed, almost tripping in my quickness, and put myself between him and the door.

"Mello, think about it for a second." I said in a stoic voice, making sure to pick each word with complete caution. "If you get to Matt and try anything against him, then not only will our whole plan will be destroyed but he'll know as well."

"I don't care." He said firmly, his eyes down only on me. The volume of his voice had been lowered, so at least he understood he needed to remain quieter.

He stepped up closer to me, his fingers taking my chin and forcing me to look at him, even though I already couldn't tear my eyes away from his. I held no fear as he held me tightly and his eyes burned into mine. He wouldn't do anything to me… I was sure.

"_No one_ touches you, Near. No one but me. Do you understand that?" He asked. I wondered for a moment why he was asking me this.

I nodded as best I could.

"Then he needs to know that." He let go of me but didn't step back; there was hardly any space between us now. "I thought that was firmly understood, but I guess not."

"You left, Mello." I said just as firmly as he had spoken, hoping my words would get across to him. "He wants to know where you are, Mello. More than likely so he can follow you."

He was silent, which meant I was making progress. Now, I needed to divert him away from that.

"This means nothing, Mello. It just shows how desperate he is getting."

"It means everything, Near." He said, quieter.

"No. It doesn't. You're thinking with your emotions, not with your mind." His eyes narrowed on me. I knew I was hitting on a sensitive area with that, but perhaps it would make him switch gears. "Just think about it for a moment."

Everything went silent after that and I knew he was actually thinking about it. I hoped he would see where I was coming from. I was not doing this simply doing this just to make it seem like less of an issue.

I was doing it to save our plan. I was not ready to go back to the way things had been before… or worse.

"That can't continue, Near." He said firmly after a minute. I sighed in relief, knowing it meant that he was not going to find, and probably, hurt Matt.

His hand rose, gently touching my cheek as his eyes watched me, though softer now. I exhaled a slow, heavy breath to relax myself again and focus on what to do now as well as what he was saying.

"I understand."

"You say that, but you don't have any idea of what else to do?" He sounded a bit surprised, and I didn't blame him. However, his assumption was wrong.

"I… do have an idea. However, I don't think you will like it." I stated.

He remained silent, eyes watching me with interest and waiting for me to continue.

"I could… go with you."

A/N: Ah, what a terrible place to end it, another cliffhanger. What will Mello say now? What's going to happen? Hm… interesting. Anyway, yeah, this is short, but considering how much my interest in this has waned it's pretty good. I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out but I'm hoping that it won't be another 2 months.

Please review!  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


	9. With Hesitance

A/N: So… this is more so that I can get a chapter out, and alleviate the cliffhanger that I made for you all last time. I'm not sure how long this chapter is going to be but I'm not really expecting it to be too long. I don't know when the next chapter is going to come out after this… I need someone to help me make some transition ideas. So… if anyone's interested let me know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters used in this story. I am in no way making any money off of this.

Chapter 9: With Hesitance

I had hardly ever been outside Wammy's before, let alone traveling through the dense woods that surrounded most of it, cutting it off from the nearby city of Winchester.

It was clear out tonight, and quite cold as well which made me wish that I had brought a jacket with me. The trees around us blocked out a lot of the light that would have come from the moon above, and also made the area seem a lot colder.

Being out here frightened me, there was no doubt about that. Everywhere I looked, things looked exactly the same and more and more I was beginning to think that perhaps Mello and myself were lost.

The said blonde was walking just a bit in front of me, and as I felt the fear creep back up into me, I hastened my step just enough so we were side by side again.

I inconspicuously looked up at him, noticing the hard expression on his face. The expression left me with very little I could read off, and I desperately wanted to know what he was thinking now… whether he was upset or not.

He surely had been a bit upset about this entire thing…

Flashback:

_After telling him the vague part of my plan, Mello continued to watch me with blank and halfway expecting eyes; as if he was waiting for me to somehow make a sudden turn that would make the words sound less like what they did._

_But, unfortunately, they would make no such turn, for I meant them exactly as I had said them._

_I watched him back, waiting for him to finally come to a realization that I was completely serious and thus begin throwing off all his opinions onto me._

_When he didn't say anything else, I figured I would have to be the one to break the silence. "Mello?" I asked quietly._

"_Are you serious?" He asked in halfway disbelief._

_I nodded._

_He chuckled a bit as though I was kidding, "Near, no. Besides the fact that that would completely ruin the plan we had before, it's also… just a stupid idea." He moved away from me, finally going back over to my bed and sitting down upon the mattress; my eyes followed him the entire time._

"_That plan was made before this had begun to happen." I argued, "If it had, then it would have been different to include that."_

"_No." He said. "If that had been happening before we did this I would have stopped it while I was still here instead of letting you stop me now." His look hardened on me, but I didn't falter._

"_Even so, we cannot deny that something must be done about this. That is, unless you can live with it." I said, knowing that the comment would better push him over to my side of the argument._

_He saw through this and let his eyes narrow on me, but we both knew he couldn't deny it at the same time. "No." He said solidly. "Something has to happen. Damn it, Near, this would be so much easier if you just let me go hit him a couple of times!" He said, his tone growing more frustrated with me._

"_It would… but then he would know, and do you really want that?" I was grinding down on his will to deny me; I could tell by the way he looked away at my words._

"_No." He said. I didn't bother asking about why that was… why he cared so much. If it meant that he could come back, and that I would not have to live each day missing him, and every night worrying about getting caught and thus found out, then I would freely admit it._

_He remained silent and I knew this was my chance to fully push him over the edge while he was hovering between one side and the other._

_I stepped closer to him now, letting my hand trail to his cheek and gently urge him to meet my eyes once more. "Things will be fine." I told him. "And… if things do not work out correctly then we can come back." I tried to say this quick enough so that he would not hear my exact wording._

_He watched me carefully for a long minute, and I hoped he would give in to it. I wanted this to work… I didn't want myself to be separated from him as we currently were._

_Why, though… I wasn't sure. It was just a need I felt no matter how much I tried to dismiss it._

_Finally, he sighed heavily. "Fine." He stated._

End flashback:

"Thank you for agreeing to this, Mello." I said as I continued to watch him.

After that I'd prepared a small bag that I could easily carry which held my necessities, and not long after that we'd left the building… I had tried not to think about how it might be the last time I ever saw it.

Mello finally looked down at me, his eyes full of wonder now. "What?" He asked.

"I said… thank you for agreeing to this; for allowing me to go with you." I stated, unsure now of why exactly it was I was saying it. It just… seemed pointless and I tried to look away in an attempt to end what I had said.

But all of a sudden I felt his warm hand touch mine; I looked down just in time to see his hand intertwine with mine, almost in a reassuring way.

I looked back up at him but he said nothing in response, or explanation.

But I needed to say something, anything to break this frightening darkness and silence that had suddenly set down around us. How Mello was dealing with it so well… I wasn't sure.

"What do you think… people's reaction will be?" I finally asked.

I felt his eyes look over at me once again. "To your absence?" He asked, and I nodded. He went silent for a long moment, but I could tell by his shifting blue eyes that he was thinking it over. "Hard to say." He finally stated. "I wouldn't even be surprised if they sent someone looking for you…" He said, his voice growing tense and trailing off at the end.

"Oh?" I asked as the only thing I had to say to make him elaborate.

"Roger would never let you go so easily as he did me, Near. You're number one in Wammy's… thus, irreplaceable." He stated, but with a bit of venom in his tone. I could hear that he didn't like that fact at all, though it wasn't as though I had expected anything else.

I was silent for another moment… trying to find something that would be right for me to reply back. I didn't want to set him off anymore, or deny it… as he was probably right.

"Well… it should be hard to find us, right?" I said, as a simple way to make the conversation move on. I could only hope this worked.

He sighed, probably understanding what I was trying to do. "Yeah… that's right." He stated just as the edge of the forest came into view, and I knew the city would probably be just beyond that.

I watched him for another moment; his eyes didn't show the same thing his words did. Did he doubt himself that much? And if so… why?

I diverted my eyes away from him to watch the forest fall away and the quiet city come up. Mello stopped once this happened. I couldn't even remember the last time I had been to Winchester; thus it was like visiting an entirely new place that I had never been to before.

"Well…" Mello said and I felt his eyes on me, "Ready?" He asked.

After a moment of looking at it, I gave a small nod, ready to take on whatever came next, so I gave a small nod, trying not to let my hesitance show in the action.

A/N: Well… not bad, but not as long as I had really hoped. I had hoped for them to have more to talk about, but Mello is nervous right now, and Near doesn't know what to expect, so I can kind of understand why they'd be like they were. Anyway, let me know what you think and I will try to have the next chapter to you all as fast as I can!

Please review!  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


	10. Sleeping in the Rain

A/N: Hm… I'm not sure what to say in this note… this chapter might be a bit more difficult because I have little direction in it. Well… I have some but I'm not too sure how it's going to flow. Whatever. Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing!! That's what's keeping this story going as of now. So, thank you all!

Disclaimer: Like always, I do not own Death Note or any of the characters. Please do not sue!

Chapter 10: Sleeping in the Rain

The city was not as I had always remembered it from the very few times I had been there. I believe that the night setting was part of what made me think of this.

I had always remembered the city to be bustling in one way or another, and the stores always seemed open and welcoming.

However, now things were quite the opposite. There was hardly anyone walking around –and the people that I did see I tried to ignore, for they were quite shady looking. As for the buildings, they were dark and closed up now. I could still see inside some of them, and at that point they appeared to just be frozen in their spot.

I was not sure how to take the sights around me… how to even imagine what life had to be like living in such an environment.

And at the same time, I was completely shocked by how dark and desolate the city was now.

"Most of the time," Mello began, brining my focus back to him, "I'd spend the day getting money, and night with you. I'm used to just sleeping a few hours now, since after that I always had to leave."

I gave him a small, confused look. Why was he telling me this?

He must have picked up on my confusion, for then he elaborated. "We don't have anywhere to go here, in the city. It just wasn't needed before now."

My confusion stayed, but I understood what he was saying. I watched the way his blue eyes flicked here and there, though I wasn't too sure of what he was looking for.

"So what is your plan?" I finally questioned.

"Well obviously any normal place is out of the question, considering the time."

"Perhaps it would have been better to stay a while longer at Wammy's." I said, thinking aloud.

He instantly glared at me, "You're the one that wanted to come with me, Near, now we're just going to have to deal." He stated.

I watched him for a moment longer before I let my gaze drift to the ground.

Of course he was a bit irritated with me now, I knew he still didn't like this idea of me coming with him to the city. But that was the only option I'd favored at the moment.

However, as I looked around at out surroundings and I realized what I'd really gotten myself into, it was hard for me to think I had been thinking logically about it at all.

What _had_ I been thinking? I was in no way built for living out here, like this. No… Mello was more capable than I.

Perhaps that was one of the reasons why he had declined letting me go too, in the first place –he'd known this is what it was going to be like.

As my eyes were drawn back to him, I wondered what else he had known about, but I didn't dare ask… for I didn't want him to get even _more_ irritated at me again.

"I understand." I finally replied back to him.

I heard the way he sighed… like he was mentally scolding himself for letting the irritation show.

But how could he not? That kind of thing was just in his nature… and how little he displayed clearly showed his heightened level of self control.

I didn't say anything more to him… even though I really did want him to tell me more. I was desperate to know what thoughts were going through his mind. What _could_ he be thinking about? A multitude of things… I was sure.

Finally, after another long few minutes of silence, Mello finally pulled me down one of the dark alley ways. I felt my defenses go up immediately… more than a bit frightened by the fact that I wasn't sure where we were headed now, and that I couldn't see what was in front of me very well.

I stopped in place, trying to wait for my eyes to adjust to the darkness of the alley, and soon let my eyes trail up to the heavens for a reason that I wasn't too sure about.

Thick clouds were rolling across the sky, blocking out every star, as well as the moon. It was cold out already, and the lack of lighting did nothing to assist in resolving that problem. I could only hope the ominous clouds above didn't mean snow would be falling soon.

All of a sudden I felt Mello's hand take mine once again, which surprised me into looking back down. His blue eyes were shining through the darkness as he watched me.

"Come on." He told me before pulling me along, further into the darkness of the empty alley.

"Where are we going?" I asked, hoping the fear of this place didn't show through in my words.

"To where we're going to sleep tonight." He told me, as though it was the simplest thing and that I should have known it.

"Here?" I asked, as monotone as I could.

"I already told you, Near, there's nowhere else we can go. I've been sleeping with you back at Wammy's for the few hours I could before dawn. Therefore, finding a place here was useless." He explained as we finally reached the back of the alleyway.

"I see…" I said simply, having registered that beforehand, but not so much what that would mean.

Mello slid down the side brick wall and let his head rest back against it. I simply sat in front of him awkwardly, unsure of what I was supposed to do now. I was positive that sleeping in such a place, with strangers lurking everywhere, would be a near impossibility.

Mello gave a small chuckle before he took my hand and directed me closer to him till he was able to pull me wholly into his lap.

I tensed instantly as he shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it, as best as possible, around both of us. "Mello?" I asked, looking at him in obvious confusion.

"This'll be fine for now… it's not that bad." He said, surprisingly positive for once.

I watched him as his arms wrapped securely around me. If Mello could be positive about this situation, perhaps I could fool myself into believing it as well. After all, I had already done it once before.

This was nice… I guess… at least this way I would be able to wake up with Mello here… that would be a first. And being away from Wammy's meant I wouldn't have to deal with Matt, or anyone else's questions or suspicions.

But then the realistic side of the argument began to show itself, and I couldn't begin to fight it off. The reality of this was, was that we were not in a safe position here… anything could happen. Also, this was no way to live. There was just no way that we'd be able to do it for a long period of time.

But I sighed anyway and let my head rest against him –listening to his heartbeat as my eyes closed. I would have to try and somehow push away the reality of this situation and live on false hopes… despite how much I did not like the thought of it.

Living on false hopes meant ignorance, and blindness to the rest of the world around you, and I did not like that.

All of a sudden, there was the low sound of rumbling from the skies above us, and the noise instantly made my eyes open.

Mello cursed under his breath and I felt the way his head moved up to watch the sky in the same manor that I had just earlier. I wondered what he was thinking now… was he planning something? Or cursing at how unfortunate it would be? It was hard to tell, and I knew that even if I looked up to his blue eyes I wouldn't be able to find the answer in them.

We remained silent for a while longer, the only thing breaking it was the low rumbles of thunder off somewhere in the distance… but I could tell by the growing volume of them that the storm was getting closer to the city.

My fingers clenched the material of Mello's shirt… knowing what was bound to happen and needing to feel him there for an unknown reason.

And then, as if on cue, I began to feel small raindrops hitting my face, which I instantly flinched at in surprise.

"Wonderful…" Mello said sarcastically, with an exasperated exhale, so I knew he must have felt it as well.

My eyes closed once more as the raindrops became more frequent. I tried not to think about it… about how we had no way to escape this rain. And also about how much I despised being outside in such weather as this.

The rain began to pour now, and every couple of minutes a clap of thunder rang overhead. My eyes remained sealed closed but I pushed myself closer to Mello, and tried to curl up into as best of a ball as I could. I didn't like this one bit.

I felt Mello pull me closer, and wrap his jacket even closer around us… even though we both knew it was only going to do so much.

His face leaned down once again into my hair that I knew was now completely wet from the rain, as drops fell from the strands onto me. I tried to hold back the shiver that wanted to escape as a result of the cold air mixed with the equally cold rain.

"Sorry." Mello's voice said through the rain. His close proximity to me helped me be able to hear him. "We'll look for a better place to stay tomorrow."

Finally, my eyes opened and I looked up to him, and I knew there was question in my eyes, but I wasn't too sure what I was trying to ask.

He gave me a small smile back and kissed me once before leaning back against the wall and holding me close. "Hopefully it doesn't get much worse." He said as his eyes closed.

I said nothing in response, just continued to watch him through the rain, and watch the way his hair hung limply in his face while rain soaked through it and dripped onto his skin and shirt.

With his eyes closed, he looked just as serene as he always did when asleep… but now it just seemed different because of the situation. It was as though I was seeing him not for who he was, or how he appeared to me, or even anyone else. But instead I was seeing him for all the things he was doing.

How much had he already given up, and done in order to ensure that we had just 'one more night'? That in itself showed me how incredibly true he was to everything that we'd created now.

"Just try and sleep for now." He told me as I felt his hands roaming my back, till his fingers found my spine and were able to being tracing it in a relaxing manor.

I did as told, resting my head once again against him and closing my eyes and shrugging the jacket up more on me and trying to rest as my mind focused on both the chilling rain that fell upon us, as well as his fingers on my back.

For some reason, it made this seem not so bad… as though… I could deal with any of this, so long as he was here with me.

A/N: Alright, so that actually turned out to be longer than I thought it was going to be. I've had the idea for that chapter in my mind for a while now… and I really don't think it came out exactly the way I wanted it to… but that's alright… because I guess that just means I have to work even harder on the next chapter. Let me know your thoughts!

Please review!  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


	11. Burden

A/N: This chapter only took me a couple of hours to do... but it was quite difficult. I think I have some idea as to what I want to happen in the end, now, but it's really going to take a lot more development than that. We'll see what happens, but until then, here is the next chapter of this story! Slowly but surely we're getting closer to the end of this story. Still no idea as to how many more chapters, though.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters used in this story.

Chapter 11: Burden

The next few days that followed after that weren't as bad as Mello always seemed to make them out to be. We spent most days moving from one area to another, and thankfully Mello had enough money that we could get little things to eat during the day.

Sleeping didn't change at all. Mostly, it was in alleys since, it was, of course, cheapest. And, surprisingly sleeping where we did turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. Once I was falling away from consciousness the place we were in meant nothing. The silence simply helped to relax me.

I always held on to the feeling of Mello there, and his fingers on me. I was so used to trying to hold on to him for as long as I could, until he left early in the morning, that I felt myself doing the same thing even now, when I knew he wouldn't leave.

My fingers held on to him and I slept peacefully with his scent being the only thing I smelled. He felt closer to me than before. It was right, and I had no second guesses about anything now.

I felt a warmth on my cheek, and filtering into my closed eyes –urging me into consciousness once more.

My eyes slid open and met the sun of the morning. I looked out of the alley we were in to the sidewalk, and noticed the way people walked by –oblivious to everything around them.

With a sigh, I pulled back enough to observe the way Mello and I were. He was still sleeping, just as peacefully as he always did. His face was serene, and he looked just like an angel against the dreary surroundings. Somehow he always seemed to resonate a light to him that I could never get enough of.

I looked back at Mello, and raised my hand, carefully brushing back his blonde locks to revel more of his face to me. However, this action seemed to cause him to stir. I never thought Mello was a light sleeper… but at the same time, now I could imagine how he could be.

His eyes twitched a bit before finally sliding open to reveal bright blue eyes. They look confused for a minute before focusing on me.

"Good morning." I said.

He hardly said anything to me in response, but looked around to survey the surroundings. Then, his eyes found me again. "Did you at least sleep okay?" He asked, leaning forward to stretch.

I got off him, but kept my eyes on him as I nodded. "It wasn't quite as bad as I first thought." I explained, standing up to stretch my muscles a bit.

He did the same as I took the bag I'd brought with me from Wammy's and put it back on my shoulders. I had no way of knowing what Mello had planned today. Things would have to change now, and I knew it.

Mello had had everything planned out before this –what to do during the day, how to act at night, how to keep himself away from people, everything. But now, he wasn't dealing with just himself.

I hated the thought of being a burden, or anything close to that. But he was more equipped to be able to function in this situation than I. I would simply have to try and follow as need be, and assist whenever I could.

"What do we do now?" I asked when he gave no answer in response. He was thinking, I could see it in the deep expression in his eyes. But as to what… he hid that well from me. I hated him in those times when he did that.

"We get something to eat." He told me, beginning to walk from the alley and speaking as though it meant nothing at all. I followed after him quietly, watching how calmly he walked, while at the same time I could see the wheels turning quickly in his head.

I followed him down the sidewalk and saw him watching each stand and each store that we passed. I was wondering what he was planning on doing. I had some idea in mind, but I had no intention of saying anything about it. For all I knew, he could be planning something completely different.

We passed a fruit stand that stood outside of a shop, there were quite a bit of people around there, each surveying all of the produce before taking some selections and heading inside to pay for them.

I watched the way Mello swerved in closer to the stand, but never once stopped, and didn't look at it at all. I was confused… what was he doing?

We continued on without pause, until finally we were past the stand and I watched as a victorious smirk crossed Mello's face.

"What did you do?" I finally asked him, confused.

His look shot over to me and never faltered in the slightest. Instead, he lifted his hand which had been at his opposite side from me, revealing him holding two apples carefully in his hand.

I looked confused, "You took them?"

He gave me one before biting into his own and answering, "You did want to be able to eat, right?" He asked, and I knew he wasn't expecting an answer.

Part of me knew that this was right… that this was the way things had to be in order to get by. But… at the same time there was also the part of me, which had learned from Wammy's, that contradicted the other side completely.

"Stealing is wrong, Mello." I looked at the apple, and didn't want to eat it. But at the same time, I was hungry and did want it.

He scoffed, "Don't be so pious, Near. You're in the real world now, not everyone can afford to follow all the rules and still expect to get by." He explained to me, even though I already knew that.

I had a good understanding as to why people committed crimes, what drove them and what their state of mind was. But all of that had been drawn off of books… never from personal experience.

It felt odd to be on the other side of the page now. To be the one who was forced to break the rules in order to see the next day. It felt… wrong. It was a wonder, to me, how anyone could do it for so long.

"Just eat it, Near." He told me, taking another bite out of his own.

I looked down to the red apple that was held in my hand. This apple felt tainted, because it had been taken… but it was all we had now. How could I turn down precious sustenance?

So finally I took a bite out of it and ate it.

However, it wasn't but a few moments after taking a bite of it and swallowing it that I felt some unknown force grip me and forced me to stop and cough raggedly. But another followed right after it and I could do nothing but try and cease it.

It was painful, the coughing raked my throat and seemed to rip it apart painfully. Even my stomach was affected, feeling incredibly sick and I thought for a second that I might just vomit.

All of a sudden I felt Mello's hand on me, and his eyes tried to meet mine –they were filled with so much concern now. He said something to me, but I couldn't hear him over my own coughing.

Time seemed slower to me, but I suspected that after a moment, or maybe two, it finally stopped and I was silent again. Neither of us moved at all. I wasn't sure how to take what'd just happened.

"Near?" He finally asked, carefully.

I looked back at him, memorizing the way they were and tried to make sure nothing like that would occur again. "I… do not feel so well." I finally stated, feeling the way my stomach swirled in sickening circles and moving up to my head to make it spin.

I saw the way Mello's eyes changed to both realization and deepened concern at the same time. I knew what revealing that to him would mean… what he would essentially attempt to do because of that.

Part of me hated revealing that reality to him. But another part of me knew that, as it stood right now, I would not be able to hide it from him. That it would just be a failed attempt.

His cool fingers touched my forehead for a moment, "You're sick, Near." He stated. I sighed as he took his fingers back from my head. I didn't understand… why did I have to become sick?

Of course, in the back of my mind, I knew exactly what it was. My terrible immune system… mixed with the cold surroundings around us. The mix was not good, and we were seeing the effects now.

I wanted to say something, I wanted to apologize and dissuade him from anything he was planning on doing now. But I couldn't find any words in order to begin doing this. My throat already felt too scratched up from my previous episode.

Mello stepped away and looked around at all of the different people that walked by us as though our scene meant nothing to them, or as though we were just completely invisible.

"What… what are you planning?" I choked out as I watched the wheels turning in his head once again.

"Nothing." He said bluntly and firmly, as though trying to keep me out of it. He probably knew that if I knew I would try to talk him out of whatever it was.

"Tell me." I urged him, taking hold of his sleeve before he could start away to wherever his eyes were trying to lock on to.

"We need somewhere to stay, Near. We can't keep staying the way we are. Look, you're getting sick because of it." He stated.

Mello continued to watch me, but I was surprised by what occurred next. His firm eyes that had starred out onto the rest of the world completely disappeared when they were on me, and left dull, broken emptiness behind.

He turned away, as though realizing what was being seen, and squeezed his eyes shut forcefully enough to make me flinch. He was feeling guilty… and all I could do was look on as he tried desperately to find a solution to this new situation.

Mello then turned to me and pulled me so I was standing straight once more, then he began walking. I followed after him instinctively, but when I was at his side I took his hand in mine. He hardly paused to look down at our connected hands before he continued again, walking through the busy streets. We were two nobodies among a mass of blank, uncaring faces.

I had never felt so isolated among so many people before.

A/N: First off, thanks to Insanitoon for providing me the ending that he did. As I told him before, I'd be walking in circles lost with writing filled with errors without him. Next, I'm not sure where I'm going with the next chapter. I know where they need to be, but I don't know so much as to how I'm going to do it. So… we'll see what happens. Let me know what you think!

Please review!  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


	12. A Plan For The Night

A/N: I've been putting a lot of thought into this story recently, because I know it's only going to have a few more chapters until it's finally finished. For one thing, I finally got an idea as to how I can make this work, and thus I've readjusted my original idea. Second… and probably what most of you don't want to hear, is that I don't think I'm going to be able to add a lemon into this story. I mean… I know I've kind of been showing that one might happen beforehand and what not… but based on what I have right now… I just don't know. I'm still planning.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters used in this story.

Chapter 12: A Plan For the Night

By the middle of that afternoon there was no denying that I was sick now.

Every step I took was heavy, the sun –while normally being cold because of the time of the year, now felt as though it was the middle of summer and was burning straight through me. When we walked onwards, every now and again my vision would blur as a result of everything happening at once to my body.

Thankfully, Mello was considerate to my state and every once and a while we'd stop and I'd get to sit and rest as best I could in our position. Either that or I'd find some kind of fountain, to let the cool water touch my face.

I was desperate for anything that might bring relief from the fires of this illness.

I could always feel Mello's solid blue eyes on me –firm and serious, yet somehow also holding a worried look behind them that, I felt, only I could pick out. I was positive Mello was feeling incredibly guilty for all of this.

And by this time, even I could admit that maybe this had not been the best idea in the world. No matter how much I felt I needed to be with him more than I had been before, it was now, more than ever, that I had to admit that I wasn't as able-bodied as Mello was to put up with this kind of thing.

I couldn't deal with this as well as he could –and we both knew it.

A part of me wanted to try and hide all of that from him. But I knew it was far too late for such a thing. He could see the effects, and I would bet more than anything that he was planning something.

Though… I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what that _something_ was.

I heard him sigh, and look away as he sat next to me on the curb of the sidewalk. "We need to do something." He said suddenly; probably more to himself than anything.

I coughed once more before looking over to him with a questioning look, "What are you thinking?" I asked, trying to get him to tell me any plans that he might have made. However, I was attempting to be as observant as I could, considering the situation, so I would be able to pick out if he was planning anything I wouldn't agree to.

I knew exactly what to look for in him when it came to things like this.

If he straight out told me, than that was probably what he had in mind at that moment, and was looking for _somebody_ to tell it to if only to see how it sounded. If he paused between explaining, than he was probably trying to plan as he spoke so as not to show that he really didn't know. And, as I figured it was, if he avoided the question, then he was planning something he didn't want me to know.

He paused for a moment, and didn't look at me. "As of right now…" He sighed, "I don't have much of a plan." His eyes looked distraught; I knew he didn't believe any of his thoughts were good enough. It didn't surprise me… he was looking for the perfect thing to do.

But such a plan was proving to be evasive, for one reason or another –mainly because of our situation.

He finally looked at me, his beautiful blue eyes watching me and taking in everything. I could only look back at him, and try to think of some way to help –some way to figure out what was best to do. But it was hard when my mind continuously kept treading back to my illness.

I finally had to look away again as another fit of coughing raked through my body. I brought my knees up closer to me and willed it to stop. I hated being sick at all, but this, being out here, was much worse.

Mello shifted closer to me and his hand touched my back –rubbing in small circles in soothing motion. I could feel his eyes staying on me as well. He was continuing to think.

When the fit finally stopped, I let my head rest against my knees. "I'm sorry." I heard myself say as my eyes closed and I breathed through slightly parted lips. My body felt so hot under the winter sun and I thought I might just be shaking. But I couldn't tell. The world was spinning under me beyond my control.

"It's alright." He said with a heavy exhale. I heard him suddenly stand up. "Come on." I looked up to see him standing; his hand extended to help me up again.

But I didn't want to take the hand. I wasn't feeling well at all, even just sitting here made me feel even worse. I didn't want to move… I just wanted to rest and try to make it stop. Or at least try to get control over the world again.

"We can't keep doing this, Mello…" I told him, letting my head rest where it had been again. "I just want to stay in one place for a while."

Mello was quiet for a long minute; beginning to plan once again.

I couldn't help the thoughts that went through my mind. 'Stop planning for a second, Mello. Please, I can't bear to go anymore.'

Mello's words suddenly cut through my thoughts, though. "Come on, Near." There was something about the way he spoke that I couldn't quite place. I turned a bit to look at him better as he continued. "I'll carry you."

I looked him over for another long moment before finally sighing and reaching to take his hand so he could help pull me up.

The world continued to spin around me as I stood up, and I still felt as though I might be sick at any moment. But I let Mello do as he wanted –for I simply didn't have the strength, and hardly the will, to say otherwise.

He moved and pulled me up onto his back –his arms around my legs to help keep me up and my arms instinctively around his neck. I rested my head on my arm, but the sweet smell of his hair filled my senses as I closed my eyes.

"Where are we going now?" I asked, figuring he had to have _some_ sort of plan by now. I knew he'd been thinking of something, otherwise he wouldn't have pushed me to leave so quickly.

He was quiet for a long minute and for that time I wondered if he'd even heard me. But he finally spoke. "I have an idea." He said, quite vaguely.

"And what is that?" I pressed as I left my eyes closed and tried not to let the movements of his walking make me even sicker.

"You'll see when we get there." He said, continuing this vague approach. Maybe he just liked annoying me by not giving a proper answer. Yes… that would be just like him.

I didn't press anymore, but instead stayed silent with my eyes closed and tried rest if only in the slightest. When I'd thought about leaving Wammy's to go with Mello I hadn't thought that this would be where we ended up being.

But I pushed the thought away. At least I'd, overall, gotten what I had wanted. I'd left a dream… and in a sense, my entire life, behind for him. The thought pulled at my heart in a way that depressed me, but again, I had to push that all away.

-

I suppose I'd lost a sense of time all together because when I opened my eyes again, it was dark out and the only light that I could see was from the lights within the buildings, or from the street lamps we were passing.

How long had Mello been walking, I wondered. But when I tried to calculate it I found that I couldn't even guess at what time it'd been the last time we stopped.

It had to have been a few hours.

All of a sudden Mello turned and I heard the ringing of a bell as Mello pulled open a door. Where were we going now? I didn't even get the chance to look at the sign before we were consumed in the dull light of the room.

It was a small room, consisting of only a few chairs off to one side, and a counter blocking off one side of the room where a wall behind it was filled with different keys. The only light in the room came from a dull lamp sitting on the counter, and it left a lot of the room in deep shadows.

'An inn?' I thought to myself as Mello finally set me down; instantly I sought the closest wall to lean against. I didn't think we had enough for something like this. I watched him, hoping that he wasn't planning on stealing one of the keys to a room.

All of a sudden a woman appeared from a door that was behind the counter. Her dark eyes looked us over as she smiled. "Well hello, boys, what can I do for you tonight?" She asked; the tone in her voice the complete opposite of the depressing looking room.

Mello placed a hand on the counter, his eyes looking straight into hers. "We need a room for the night." He dug into his pocket and laid a few bills down. "But I don't have much."

The woman was quiet as she took the bills and began counting them out. "I'm sorry, but you don't seem to have enough. Besides, are you two even old enough to be renting out a room?" She asked, looking skeptically at him.

I watched quietly as Mello's hand gripped into a fist. Why was he getting so frustrated so quickly? Somehow I felt I knew the answer to it, but I couldn't bring it up due to the sickness.

"Please, I know we don't have enough, but we _need_ this room." He explained. I had to give him credit for not just spitting some obscenities right off the bat. He looked like he would have, though.

"I'm sorry, but I just can-."

Mello cut her off, "Look, we don't have anywhere else to go!" Now he gives up on the nice approach… "I'm not doing this for nothing. He's sick," He pointed over to me, "And we've had nowhere to go for days. If he stays out in the cold anymore he'll probably die."

He was exaggerating, and we both knew it. But the fortunate part was that she didn't. I hated the thought, but I knew if I had to, I could play up my part in order to get us this.

A thick silence lay between us, where my eyes flicked from Mello to the woman, and I watched the way hers were doing the same. I could tell that this woman, while needing to keep her business going, had a heart. She didn't want the thought of a sick, or possibly dead kid in the near future laying on her conscience.

She finally sighed, "Alright." She said. "You two may stay for one night." She went back to the wall of keys and took one down, coming back and handing it to Mello. "There's not much there, though."

Mello took the key with a grin that I've only seen when he feels victorious in something. "That's fine, it's better than the outside." He said, then turning to me and lifting me on his back again, "Come on, Near."

I stayed quiet and let him carry me out of the room and up a set of stairs until I was positive she wouldn't be able to hear us. "That was a bit of an exaggeration." I said.

I felt Mello shrug, "Oh well, it's better than the outside again." Yes, this was definitely true.

A/N: That was a bit of a stupid ending, but I really didn't want to show the room or anything like that until the next chapter. I'm still not sure what I'm going to have happen this night. But I have a sort of vague idea. Any ideas you might have are welcome! Also, be sure to let me know what you think! I'm sorry it takes me so long to post.

Please review!  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


	13. Soup For The Soul

A/N: Hey, look! I'm posting another chapter! And it hasn't been like, four months! Wow! I'm actually going through all of my 9 projects and trying to write as much as I can on them all before I get bored. It actually gets a lot done! I'm surprised. Anyway, I figured I'd give this chapter a shot, since I've been doing that, even though I don't have much to go on. We'll see how things go.

Disclaimer: I do not won Death Note or any of the characters that are in this story.

Chapter 13: Soup For The Soul

It didn't take too much longer before we finally reached the room that we'd been allotted for the night. Without putting me down, Mello was able to put the key in the door and unlock it –letting it swing open and allowing a gust of cold air out that made me shiver.

I heard him growl in frustration. "This place is almost as bad as just being outside." He said, probably to himself as he stepped in and flicked the light on to reveal the room to us.

Just as the woman from the counter had said, there wasn't much there. It was almost all just one small room, consisting of a bed with a small table beside it, a small desk across from the bed, and a small kitchen area in the corner which had a simple microwave and a small fridge –which he was sure didn't have anything in it. On the right side of the room there was a closed door, which probably led to the bathroom.

Mello finally put me down and stepped further into the room. But I could only stand there, feeling that if I moved anymore the world might start spinning and I'd fall over, or get sick.

I watched as Mello looked around, with a disapproving look in his eyes. "This is hardly better than being outside." He said, probably more to himself. "I wonder if there's any heat here."

I didn't bother responding to him, but instead stepped more into the room –carefully so the room didn't spin- and sat on the side of the bed.

I was beginning to feel the chill of the room around me, so I drew up the dark comforter that was made on the bed and wrapped it around myself. It was still cold, but I figured after a while of being wrapped in it, it would help.

Mello came back in the room from the bathroom. "There's hot water, at least." He looked over at me, and I could see the concern lacing his eyes. I wondered if he was beginning to think I was his responsibility or something.

I didn't want that… If anything, this would be my fault. This whole thing would –but I was trying not to think about it. As far as I was concerned, if there was a higher power, then I was being punished for my selfishness.

"Do you want to take a shower or something? That might help some." He asked; his voice a lot quieter now. I wondered what was going through his mind.

I shook my head. I knew that if I stood up again, I'd probably fall over. "It's fine…" I said, letting my eyes close as I drew the blanket closer to me.

He sighed, then came over and sat next to me –his arm wrapped securely around my waist. "Yeah… it's better than nothing." He told himself.

I leaned closer to him, liking the warmth that his body gave up. I knew I could fall asleep there if he'd let me. "Yes." I agreed. "Now, let's just go to sleep, okay?" I let my eyes slip open and look at him.

Mello's eyes met mine; then he nodded.

However, before either of us could act there was a sudden knock on the door. Both our eyes looked over to it. I couldn't help but wonder who could possibly be there.

Mello got up to go over to it, and instantly I hated the loss. Right now, I just wanted him to be next to me –and keep me warm. Hopefully, whoever was there would make it quick and just leave.

I watched the door open, and tried to look around to see who it was. But I was surprised when I did see the person.

It was the woman from the front counter downstairs. There was a worried look in her dark eyes, and a bowl held carefully in her pale hands. She smiled a bit, and I could just imagine Mello's confused look.

"Uhm…" She stuttered a bit, looking down at the bowl. "That boy you were with, he really looked sick." She said, "I brought some soup to try and help him feel better." She said, and I watched her look up at Mello and smile.

"Oh, uh… thanks." Mello said, more than likely surprised by the whole action, from the woman who hadn't wanted to give us the room to begin with. Part of me was wary, and wanted to believe that she was only doing this to really see if I was sick or not. But, the look in her eyes told me otherwise.

Mello stepped aside and allowed her to step inside. Instantly her eyes moved over to me, and she stepped further in to get closer to me. "Oh, hello." She smiled as she spoke.

She then moved and sat next to me while Mello leaned against the wall to watch as she handed me the bowl. "I know there's no food up here, and I figured if you don't have enough for a hotel room, then you wouldn't have enough for a proper meal. So I made some chicken soup for you." She smiled at me.

"Thank you." I said. Holding the white bowl in my hands warmed me a bit. But, unfortunately I wasn't too hungry. All I wanted was to sleep. I figured I'd let Mello have it later –though I doubted he'd take it.

She stayed in place, despite my wishes for her to leave, and finally said. "So what are you two doing out in a place like this at such a young age? Are you runaways?" She asked; seeming generally interested more than looking for a reason to turn us in to someone.

"Sort of." I said, honestly, and Mello just nodded in agreement. I could tell he was just as wary of her as I had been.

She looked between us, and part of me got the feeling that she as assuming things. The right things, even. I wondered what she would say about it.

"I see." She finally said. "Did you… run away to… be together?" She asked, carefully. I didn't say anything back, because I was unsure of what kind of image Mello wanted to show, or what he wanted known and what he didn't.

"I can't see how that's any of _your_ business." He finally answered, his blue eyes narrowing on her.

She just shrugged, "It's not." She said, "But I'm always interested in other people's stories. And I was interested in knowing yours when you came in."

"So you decided to find a reason to pry into us, then." He said, crossing his arms. I wondered how she viewed him. He really wasn't as scary as he always seemed to be. Or… rather, he had a completely different side to him than that. But, it was hard to get that across when _this_ side was all he ever showed to the majority of people.

"No, no, not at all! I really was concerned for you." She looked over at me. "I would feel absolutely terrible if, even after staying here and out of the cold, something bad happened. I'm trying to make sure that you're okay." She said quickly, to defend herself.

"I believe you." I told her, honestly. My eyes darted back to Mello, but he didn't offer anything to show what he was thinking of her. Judging by what I knew about him, though, he'd probably lay off his attitude, or just stay silent, for the duration. If I was going to trust her, then he knew that there must be probable reason to.

She continued to speak, "I just couldn't help but wonder, too. You know, so many people are doing that, these days, when they feel they have no other choice." Her eyes moved between Mello and I –with a look of sympathy in them.

"What do you mean?" I asked, honestly wanting her to say more. Almost instinctively, to show that I wanted to hear more, and was beginning to be trusting of her, I took the silver spoon that had been in the bowl and ate a small bite of it.

It was warm, of course, and felt wonderful going down my sore throat.

"Well, young people like yourselves are running away from home when they feel like they're not understood, or won't be accepted for how they are." She explained. "I get a lot of people like you coming to my hotel. Usually I turn them away, though. I'm a big supporter of those kinds of kids being taken back home."

"Why? If they have those troubles, then shouldn't they be able to get out and live on their own –to start their own life where they _might_ be understood better?" I asked. It felt like we weren't even talking about this subject in the vague manner, but instead discussing Mello and myself leaving Wammy's instead.

I looked over to Mello, and saw him looking away, to the far wall –I was sure he was thinking the same thing, and it was hitting some sensitive side of him.

"The world is merciless. If they're own family isn't going to understand, or accept them, how could they begin to imagine that the rest of the world would? Besides," She added, "I believe that any loving family will be able to accept or understand anything that could be going on." She smiled warmly at the thought.

"What if you don't have a 'loving family'?" Mello asked, without looking back in our direction.

I instantly wanted to say something against that –in defense of Wammy's. But the more I thought about it, the truer it seemed to be.

Sure, Wammy's took us in and gave us a good place to live, and an opportunity of a lifetime. But… underneath that, it was just an institution running on the idea of cloning somebody. We weren't being trained to be our own person. We were being trained to be the next L. To take on _his_ name and leave ours behind.

"They should still be able to support you." The woman said as her fingers knitted together in her lap. "If they've kept you this long, then they wouldn't get rid of you for something so simple." She was catching on more and more, and I could tell just by how confident each of her words seemed to be.

I figured Mello was too entranced by her words to notice; otherwise he'd do anything to lead her astray again. I was kind of glad he didn't, though. I found it interesting to hear what she had to say. But I wasn't sure why.

"You're special in some way, and I know that's a cheesy thing to say… but… it's true. I know it is." She said with a smile.

Mello and I looked at each other at this, and it was as if we were thinking the same thing at once. We knew what she meant –even if she didn't. What she meant, in our situation, was that despite how we were now, Wammy's wouldn't, or rather _couldn't_ separate us just because of this.

The competition between us was something completely different. It was as if that was just programmed into our DNA. We weren't just competing, back at Wammy's, for the title of L. We were doing it because our personalities contradicted each other, and that's just how we reacted to one another.

Like two chemicals in a reaction, we just didn't work as easily together.

But if they were to find out, they couldn't very well _move_ one of us to a different orphanage or something. Both of us were the highest ranking there. And so long as that was the case, the most they could do was to say not to do it. Which Mello would never follow, of course.

Well… not like I'd probably be any better with as addicted as I was to him.

"You might have a point." Mello said, and my eyes stayed planted on him. I couldn't help wondering what exactly was going through his mind, now. Though… part of me already knew. We were both still probably thinking the same thing.

The hotel owner smiled, then stood up. "It's late, I'm sorry to have kept you." She looked to me. "Enjoy the soup; I hope you get better very soon." With that, she headed to the door, and neither of us could find any words to stop her.

The room felt so much colder; and empty once that woman was gone. I instantly placed the bowl on the table next to the bed. Everything she'd said all forming together within me made me lose my appetite as I began to worry.

"You should get some sleep now." Mello said, causing me to look up to him, and watch him move to sit on the floor where he'd previously been leaning. Everything the woman said had made me worry, but I was sure that it'd had a much bigger effect on Mello.

He always seemed to take so much more weight for this than I did. I was trying not to let that happen, though.

Because of that, I instantly let the blanket that'd been around me fall so I could stand, and went over to him –despite the dizziness it initially caused in me. I knelt before him and his eyes followed me as I took his hand.

"Mello…" I said. "Come on, lay down with me. Don't think about it right now." I urged.

He simply sighed and stood up, bringing me with him. He was probably more compliant to what I said for my sake, rather than his own. He knew that if he _didn't_ comply that I'd stay there with him for as long as it possibly took.

He laid down on the bed and I followed, pulling the blanket over both of us and then shuffling closer into his welcoming arms. Here, I was comfortable. Here, in his arms, I knew I would be able to get a good night's sleep –even if I was sick.

The fingers of one of his hands began to trail through my hair, relaxing me and I let my eyes slip close, though he continued to watch me.

"Near." He said suddenly. "We have to think about that."

I sighed, knowing that was coming. "I know." I answered, holding back a sudden cough. "But I can't really see what there could be to think about. I'm pretty sure I already know what you're planning."

"We have to go back, Near." He said. Honestly, I thought he'd let us continue into a little banter. He must be serious if he's letting that drop to just get down to, what he thinks, will be an argument.

"I know…" I answered with a small sigh.

"We don't have anywhere to go, and we won't make it for too long out here. Despite the suffocating nature of Wammy's, at least it's better than this." He explained, as though I had not agreed and he needed to feed the reasons. "Not to mention you'll be able to get better there."

"I know, Mello." I said, letting my eyes open and look at him. "I am well aware of all you're saying. I understand that's how things need to be –for many more reasons than you've listed." Right then and there I could think of two obvious ones. "However," I continued. "If we're to go back, I only have one condition."

"What's that?" He asked.

"No more 'last night's', Mello. I would rather cut everything together than continue that way. It's way too much too much emotional strain for me." I felt like I was the one needing to feed him reasons now. "I can't handle that like you may be able to." I gripped onto his shirt –just needing something to hold onto for support.

He didn't respond for a long minute, then moved the small distance closer to me and kissed me for a few seconds before pulling back with a smile. "Tomorrow, then." He decided.

I nodded, giving just a small smile as my eyes closed. Tomorrow we would return back to Wammy's. To the only real place we could call home.

A/N: It's weird, I find that I write longer, and sometimes better chapters when I have almost nothing to go on. This chapter being proof of that. Anyway, overall this chapter probably sucks. If you think it's OOC, yeah, it probably is. But so is the rest of this story. If you actually enjoyed this chapter… wow… I'll be very surprised. So… for the sake of my confidence of with this story, please leave a small note and tell me whether or not you like this. That's all I'm asking for.

Please review!  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


	14. Wherever It May Take Us

A/N: So, I've kind of planned this chapter out, and, as much as I hate this story, I'm actually sad to say that this is going to be the last chapter of this story. It was one of my firsts, so it's hard for me to end it. But at the same time, I'm happy that it is. Anyway, I want to thank every single person who read this, and every person who reviewed this story. I love you all very much, and I thank you for your support through all of this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the characters in this story.

Chapter 14: Wherever It May Take Us

The next morning I was awoken by Mello at what must have been about seven in the morning, and began to act in a dazed state. My head was filled with the fog of sickness and prevented me from really being myself. But I was trying not to let it get to me too much.

I watched as Mello cleaned everything up, and hardly spoke to me. He moved around the room in a normal, calm manner –he didn't seem mad, or anything. He just seemed… distracted. I was trying to think that it was just because he was tired or something of that sort.

But beneath all of that, I knew what it really was. Mello was nervous about going back, of course. What would Roger say? Do? What would Matt or any of the other orphans think? There was a lot to consider, and because I was currently sick, I could tell he was just trying to keep it all to himself.

And, honestly, I didn't think I had the ability to help at this moment.

After a little bit Mello picked me up on his back again and we left from the room. The owner of the hotel was waiting down in the lobby. She must've known we'd choose to take her advice and go back.

She didn't say anything at first, but offered us a small breakfast and then wished us good luck as we left.

The streets of Winchester were nakedly devoid of people. The life that'd once flourished on the streets had dwindled down to a mere whisper in the wind.

I wanted to go back to sleep, but I was overcome by the sights –all of the dark buildings and vacant streets contrasting with the sky above.

It wasn't the normal blue it always seemed to be in the morning. Instead, the dark of night was fading out into a divine shade of lustrous gold and warm oranges with large clouds floating overhead that looked straight from an artist's canvas.

I finally exhaled and closed my eyes, turning my head more into the warmth of Mello. "This'll be better." I told him in a quiet voice. I could hear how ragged my voice was from coughing yesterday.

"Hm?" Mello simply asked in response, wanting me to continue.

"Wammy's will be a better place for us to be. Even…" I coughed quickly, "If it is very confined, and we run risks… it's better than what we've been through out here." I told him, hoping he would see my side in this.

Mello was quiet for a long minute as he walked, and probably thought over what exactly I had said. In that moment I was glad that I had said it. I had a feeling that, if I didn't get that idea out to him, than eventually he might decide to try something like this again.

I didn't want to have to go through this anymore.

"I guess so." He told me.

My eyes slipped open and I looked at him. "Mello…" I couldn't find the right words to continue, nor did I want to annoy him by continuing on the subject.

"I get it, Near." He assured me. "I know what you're saying. We just… have to see what happens when we get there."

I sighed, moving a bit to quickly kiss his cheek before resting once again. "Yes, that sounds good." Mello didn't say anything to me after that. I was sure he was still so lost in his thoughts –trying to think out every option, and come to every conclusion he could about what he might do.

I didn't want to bother that, and instead closed my eyes and let the feeling of his walking put me to sleep once more.

-

"Near…" I heard someone calling my voice, but I wasn't sure who it was. My eyes opened, but it was bright and I wasn't seeing anything. "Near…" Who was calling my name and why couldn't I find them?

It was no longer cold, as it had been when I was last awake. So where was I? "Wha…?" I asked in a dazed voice, feeling numerous hands grabbing and holding me. What was going on?

My body began to shake lightly and whoever was holding me gripped me tighter. I was glad, I didn't want to fall onto whatever floor was beneath me. Or maybe there wasn't one there at all.

My eyes closed without my permission, and a single voice reached my ears just before I lost consciousness once again. "It's alright, go back to sleep. You're home again."

-

The next time that I woke up, it was no longer as bright as it had been before. Instead, I was able to see everything around me –the white walls, the white sheets covering me, the simple wood furniture, and the familiar window that pointed out to a snowy landscape.

I was in my room.

How long had I been asleep, I wondered to myself as I sat up a bit and held my head. I had a headache now. As I looked back outside I noticed the bright blue sky –so it must've been about mid-day.

'_Maybe a few hours…'_ I thought to myself, laying back down and pulling the sheets closer to me as my eyes closed. I felt so much relief from being back in my own room. The rest of the world was shut out of my life again, and I felt safe.

I hadn't had my eyes closed for more than a few minutes when there was a sudden knock on my door. My tired eyes slipped open and I looked towards it as it opened. Before I saw him, I already knew who it was. Only one person would barge in without waiting for an answer.

Mello stepped in and closed my door quietly behind him. In one hand he held a chocolate bar to his lips, and the other held three books. His eyes quickly found mine. Something seemed different –like he and I were different after this whole experience.

"You're finally awake?" He asked with a small grin that told me he was teasing.

I nodded, pulling the sheets up closer around my face to block as much of the cold as I possibly could. I had to ask, though, "How long was I asleep, Mello?"

"You've been out since we got back yesterday morning." He told me. "I was told to bring your homework from class today."

I gave a small grin, "Which means Linda volunteered, and you somehow bribed or beat her into getting it to do yourself." I concluded. I could just imagine how that would've worked and it made my grin grow a bit.

Mello shrugged, sitting on the side of my bed, "It doesn't matter how I got it, just be grateful." He said, his own small smile growing. I was thankful that at least he wasn't being as cold as he had been the previous morning. "Roger's convinced that I kidnapped you or some shit like that, and has me on…" He paused to think about it, "Academic probation, or some shit like that."

I nodded, watching as he set the books down on the table beside my bed. I'd have to do that eventually…

My eyes flicked back to him, though, "So? What did you tell them?" I asked, wondering what story we'd have to hold on to now.

He shrugged, "I let Roger do most of the talking. So apparently I kidnapped you to try and kill you or something. It's ridiculous what that old man thinks I'm capable of. I'm not supposed to be within some amount of feet from you."

"Looks like you're already breaking that." I told him, my eyes closing again. I felt so tired. Like I could sleep for another three days, or maybe even more than that.

Suddenly, I felt him lay down next to me, and my eyes opened on him in a confused look. "You're going to get yourself in trouble." I said, but moving closer to him anyway. My blankets weren't nearly as warm or comfortable as he was.

He shrugged, "I don't care, just shut up and let me lie here for a bit. Carrying all those books is hard work, you know." He joked.

I nodded, "You can stay as long as you want." He didn't respond and I closed my eyes so I could sleep again. I felt better now that we were back.

I didn't know what was going to happen in the future. But that didn't matter anymore. We could deal with that when it happened. Right now, we were exactly where we were supposed to be, doing exactly what we were meant to.

Living for the competition, and whatever future may come for us, or wherever it may take us –whether one of us eventually become the next L or not. But more important than that, we were in love. And I didn't think anything could break that anymore.

A/N: I hate that ending! It sounds so cliché, to me! But, you know what, I couldn't think of anything better than something fluffy and happy like that. Hopefully it left a small smile on your face to know what finally happened. I know I said there would be a lemon but… I couldn't quite fit that in. And, honestly, I think it's better without it. This was about the story, about showing how much love could go through and still make it. It didn't need the sex to make it work. So, anyway, I hope you all liked this now that it's finally done. Thank you all for reading and please let me know what you think one more time.

My next story should be posted within the next few days. A great number of people voted on my poll, and it turns out you want the Schizophrenia story. So, that'll be the one I post next. The title of it is: Erosion so, keep a look out for it!

Please review!  
_-Forbiddensoul562_


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